The Bridge in Saskatoon

Man I love this City. I spent the afternoon with my Grandmother (95 next month) then met a very inspiring lady at the Bridge on 20th. Linda Chamagne is the director and founder. This is a woman who started with $120 donated $20 at a time from 6 friends. Through the insight of a friend and the generosity of the landlord she arranged two free months of rent from a location on 20th and started her agency to help those in her neighborhood. That was more than 10 years ago. Now in a new location with a bright clean environment, the Bridge employs a small staff including some former guests. They have a number of initiatives to offer their guests including, a 12 step program, education on hygiene and help to reintegrate. Linda has a dream to expand the services into transitional housing to help even more people help themselves. When asked "What does your organization need above all else?" Her answer is "space". I have no doubt that a lady of this caliber could do magical things with an adequate amount of space. I am entirely impressed with Linda and her strength and commitment.

Big thanks to Steve and Jordan of Global Saskatoon. These guys made a special journey to my Grandmothers house to capture footage of the run for their 6:00 deadline. A couple of newly transplanted Calgarians made the interview process fun and relaxing, by far the easiest interview to date. CTV and the star phoenix also covered the event.

Thanks to my friends and family in Saskatoon that came down to the event

Brent

Go Riders!!!

Edmonton and Beyond

We made our 3rd drop yesterday at the Mustard Seed (Edmionton). We met some great people Rev. Sam Breakey, Wesley Proch, and Laurel Hoffmann. Laurel tells me that they are seeing an increase in people in need with the recent economic downturn. 16132 visits were made to there personal assistance center in 2008 for clothing and hygiene items. Underwear is only one of the items needed. Wesley is a young energetic member of the team and runs the personal assistance center. We had a chance to interview him and found that he was full of innovative ideas for increasing the help they are able to administer. I look forward to keeping in touch with him and learning more of his success. I asked Rev. Breakey to tell me one thing that could be offered to increase their effectiveness and he told me that volunteers from the community were their best asset. The seed focuses on building trust in the neighborhood so they might be available to help when individuals are ready to make the transition. Volunteers from the community are essential to that first step.

Along the way we had a chance to do some investigative reporting on cheque cashing establishments in the area. There are many barriers to the homeless and this one is huge. More on this in my next report.

We have delivered 3/10th of the load. The motor home is still cramped but we managed to get access to the stove today so I could cook a pizza as we traveled to Saskatoon, I look forward to access to the bathroom and the shower.

Off to the Bridge on 2oth in Saskatoon

Stay tuned.

Brent

Two down eight to go.

Hi
Everyone,

The Calgary Delivery went very well. City News, CBC and NUTV covered the event. Keep an eye out for my ugly mug on the evening news. A reporter for the CBC wrote the following:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2009/06/26/underwear-drive-homeless-shelters-donations-king.html

We held the event at the Mustard Seeds foothills shelter. When asking one of the Seed staff about the effect of giving underwear to an individual, she told us that small gestures like this make all the difference. Once she simply offered a man the opportunity to take a shower, he burst into tears. Small luxuries when you have none can be an overwhelming gift.

I going to crash at home with my family tonight then head for the Mustard Seed in Edmonton at about 6am. We will make our drop at noon local time. I am looking forward to the relatively short distances in the prairies.

Ramin continues to get exceptional footage of the faces and places on the front lines.

Thanks as always to our supporters.

Brent

Back in Calgary

We got back to Calgary at 2am local time. I'm a little punchy but ready for our noon drop at the foothill Mustard Seed Shelter. Looking forward to a few shorter runs in Alberta and Sask. 6hrs max. Thanks again to everyone who has helped out. I told the crowd at Union Gospel Mission Vancouver about how many friends and business associates donated. I could see the emotion in more than one face, including my own. Here we go again!

Brent

1st drop Complete

We just finished our first drop of the run at Union Gospel Mission in downtown Vancouver. The staff was increadably supportive and helped to unload their gear. I had a chance to meet with some of the alumni of the mission, and learned a lot about their programs. Thanks Keela, Bruce and all the staff an volunteers at UG. UG has three different programs that address homlessness. Emergency care, housing and feeding. Addiction treatment (they have an ~ 75% success rate) and Prevention, helping youth in the area and familys to stay in their existing homes. When I asked Keela, what the biggest single challenge they faced, her answer was "Space". Oddly not underwear. Every week they have to make hard decisions on who they will allow into their programs due to limitation of space. I can only imgine how hard it would be to turn away a person who is willing to make the commitment to kick an addition but is unable to enter the program due to space constraints.

Keep up the amaizing work UG, hope to see you next year.

We leave today for Calgary and expect to be home ~ 1am local time.

Brent

Brent

On the road!

I am just stepping out of the office and into the motor home. I have a quick stop at the grocery store and then I will pick up Ramin (Film Maker) at 10:00 am. We should be in Vancouver by 10:00 pm local time. I can't wait to get underway, it's been a long time building.

Once again thanks to Kerry Worth and the people at Canadream Motor Homes for providing the cush ride!

Vancouver update (delivery time revision)

Hi Everyone,

To accomidate some of the media we have moved our drop for Union Gospel Mission in Vancouver to 11am. If you are in town feel free to come down and help unload.

Brent

One week to Launch

Hello everyone

Just a few details to report.

The film maker Ramin Eshraghi-Yazdi has raised enough money to join me onthe journey. Thanks to all of you who were able to help out!

The Website is up and running www.gotclothing.ca Thanks Robin. We have created links to each of our sponsors and invite you to link to us if youwish. If you are a corporate sponsor and your logo does not appear please contact me this week prior to our start. The site is linked to the blog and will be the best place to follow along as we make the trip. I will be posting updates daily after June 24th.

The schedule is:
June 24th Calgary Canadream RV's pick up motorhome
June 25th Vancouver Union Gospel Mission 12:00 Noon
June 26th Calgary Mustard Seed (foothills shelter) 7025 44 ST SE 12:00 Noon
June 27th Edmonton Mustard Seed 10635 96th Street 12:00 Noon
June 28th Saskatoon The Bridge on 20th 1320 20th street west 4:00 pm
June 29th Regina Souls Harbour Rescue Mission 1380 Elphinstone St 9:00 am
June 30th Winnipeg Siloam Mission 12:00 noon
July 2nd Toronto Younge Street Mission 4:00 pm
July 3rd Ottawa Ottawa Mission 35 Waller Street 10:00 am
July 3rd Montreal Bon Accueil (Welcome Hall Mission) 4755 D Acorn 2:00pm
July 6th Halifax Saint Leonard's Society 2170 Barrington StreetJuly 7th
Calgary YYC 10:30 pm
July 8th back to the grind.

Feel free to stop by when we are in your town. I would love to thank eachof you personally.

Brent