A Toronto man is in Edmonton for his annual skating marathon to raise awareness for Alzheimer’s disease.
“Every single penny when I skate here until 7:26 tonight goes directly to this community here,” Stephen McNeil, the man behind the “1926 Skate” for Alzheimer’s said Monday.
He’s skating at the rink at Edmonton City Hall for exactly 19 hours and 26 minutes in honour of his late mother, who was born in 1926 and battled the disease for nearly two decades before her death in 2013.
McNeil said the idea started off small in his hometown of Toronto before it expanded to the nation-wide campaign.
“She passed the following February, in 2013… Family and friends convinced me to turn it into a fundraiser.”
He visited Edmonton as part of his tour last year as well. During that tour, he visited seven cities across the county: all the ones with an NHL team. This year, he’s skating in 12 cities across all 10 provinces.
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Last year’s visit to Edmonton was a special moment for McNeil: he found out during his Edmonton leg of the trip that rocker Angus Young of AC/DC had donated $19,260 towards the cause. AC/DC is McNeil’s favourite band and the one he listens to throughout his skate marathons.
McNeil launched his tour in Toronto on Dec. 15, his mother’s birthday, and now is in the midst of his western leg of the national tour. It kicked off in Calgary over the weekend and then he heads to Saskatoon after Edmonton. After visiting Winnipeg and Montreal, McNeil will plan out the exact dates for his east coast skate.
“Each city I skate in has their own link, so the money I raise in that city stays in that city for their needs,” McNeil said. “It’s not some national thing where it gets lost in the shuffle.”
All the money raised by Edmontonians will go to the Alzheimer Society of Alberta and Northwest Territories.
He hopes that those who want to donate will send $19.26.
“Edmonton, I’m doing my part,” McNeil said. “Step up folks, go online and donate.”
His Edmonton skate began at midnight and wraps up at 7:26 p.m.
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