The fifth annual Walk of Valour wound its way through downtown Edmonton towards the Alberta Legislature, with hundreds of participants raising money for programs and services provided by Edmonton’s Valour Place.
This year’s goal is to raise $50,000.
Valour Place serves as a home away from home for ill or injured Canadian soldiers, veterans, RCMP members, first responders and their families when in Edmonton for medical treatment and rehabilitation.
“Since we opened our doors in 2012, we’ve been able to serve over 15,000 nights of accommodation to over 1000 families,” said Lydia Migus, executive director of Valour Place. “If you do the math that’s several million dollars we’ve been able to save [for] individuals and families. This gives them such piece of mind.”
A portion of the proceeds raised at Sunday’s walk will go towards the Valour Place Endowment Fund to ensure services remain in place for years to come.
“We set a goal at $8 million,” Migus said. “We figure with the interest off that we’ll be able to sustain the house in perpetuity and we won’t have to keep coming back to the community asking for money.”
The endowment fund just passed the $5 million mark.
“When you’re dealing with a crisis or a severe illness, the last thing on your mind is where are we going to stay how much are we going to spend on a hotel, how much is restaurant food going to cost?” Migus said. “This way they have a place to stay at no cost whatsoever.”
“It’s a lot less stress. We don’t just give them a place to stay, we give them hope and a home as well”
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