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Aiming high to help children
By Carlye Malchuk Dash
Scott MacLaren wants to help children
in Muskoka get a fair chance at participating
in sports and to do so he’s
looking up – way up.
Next April, MacLaren, who owns the
Canadian Tire store in Gravenhurst, will
travel to Kathmandu,
Nepal to climb to the
base camp on Mount
Everest in support of
Canadian Tire’s Jumpstart
program.
MacLaren, who will
do the climb alongside
other owners and
members of the corporate
team from
across the country,
hopes to have at least
$5,000 pledged
toward his climb to
support local children
who want to participate
in sports.
Jumpstart was created
to help give all
children a fair chance
at playing sports by
paying for registration
fees, says MacLaren.
“In Muskoka in the last five years . . .
we’ve been able to donate over $80,000
to help kids participate in sports,” he
says.
Although the team will not summit
the entire mountain, base camp is no
small feat.
By Carlye Malchuk Dash
Living in a society where people
have to be encouraged to exercise and
use alternate methods of transportation,
such as a bicycle, can make it
hard to imagine that owning one
could be the deciding factor on
whether or not a child goes to school.
But in rural Cambodia, where some
children have 10 kilometres between
them and the nearest schoolhouse,
that is exactly the case.
Two winters ago Gravenhurst
humanitarian Lisa McCoy, who has
been working to improve the lives of
land mine victims and those living in
rural Cambodia for the past six years,
began raising funds to purchase bicycles
to distribute to children in need.
Now 300 bicycles later, the Rotary
Club of Gravenhurst has taken on
Rotary Wheels for Learning.
“We decided to take this on as a
club project and by doing so we can
make it grow a lot bigger,” says Nancy
Beal, co-chair of the club’s international
committee. “We are involved
in international programs and this
type of project really appeals to
Rotarians.”
“What
amazes me is
when you get
to base camp
you look up
and there’s
another
12,000 feet
to go”
Already an experienced climber,
MacLaren’s previous best has been 6,000
feet. A base camp climb is 17,500 feet.
“I’m hoping that people will see the
effort (I’m putting in) and make a contribution
on our behalf,” he says.
That effort started this past spring
when MacLaren
began training with
daily hikes of 10 to 12
kilometres with a
weighted pack and
walking sticks.
“Personally it’s been
good for me because
I’ve lost 48 pounds,”
he says. “The goal was
just to get myself fit
enough to hike. The
only concern I have is
the altitude because
your fitness level doesn’t
matter because altitude
sickness can
affect anyone.”
The air at base
camp has about half
the oxygen that air at
sea level does, says
MacLaren.
“You take 10 steps
and catch your breath and 10 steps and
catch your breath so I’m sure it will be a
challenge,” he says. “What amazes me is
when you get to base camp you look up
and there’s another 12,000 feet to go.”
MacLaren will leave for his trip up
Mount Everest on April 10 and return
Within a week of announcing the
initiative, the club was able to raise
enough money to purchase the first
April 30.
Donations are being accepted at the
Gravenhurst Canadian Tire. As well, a
web link to support MacLaren’s hike will
soon be available by logging on to
instalment of 75 bicycles, which
McCoy will help to distribute this
fall. She left for a six-month trip to
www.canadiantire.ca/jumpstart and
clicking on the Everest Base Camp link.
When donating online, select
MacLaren’s name to ensure the funds
support local children.
Bicycle donation program gets rolling
Lisa McCoy, shown here with fellow Rotarian Nancy Beal, is the driving
force behind the Rotary Wheels for Learning bicycle donation program.
Scott MacLaren will be climbing to the base camp on Mount Everest in
the spring to raise money for Canadian Tire’s Jumpstart program.
Photograph: Carlye Malchuk Dash
Cambodia on Oct. 3 and hopes to
have the bicycles distributed within a
few weeks.
Now the club is aiming to raise
another $3,450 to purchase 75 more
bicycles that will go specifically to
children of land mine victims.
“Cambodia has still an estimated 5
million land mines in the Battambang
province. That’s where we’re focusing
next,” said McCoy. “In rural areas
land mine survivors are at the bottom
of the poverty scale.”
The bicycles will be purchased in
Cambodia to help the local economy
and will be equipped with a basket,
carrier, lamp and lock.
In addition to providing vital transportation
to and from school, a bicycle
can improve the well-being of an
entire family, says Beal.
“The family can also use the bicycle
to take some goods to market or to go
to a medical clinic or see a doctor, so
it just improves their lives and makes
a vast difference,” she says.
For more information on Rotary
Wheels for Learning, log onto their
website at www.rotarywheelsfor
learning.blogspot.
Photograph: Carlye Malchuk Dash
www.whatsupmuskoka.com October 2010 25