The Running for Shelter fundraiser is underway and on Aug. 13 there will be a celebration in Lloydminster.
There will be a celebration barbecue in town from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Cenovus Energy green space. Burgers and water will be served at the event by donation.
The burgers and barbecue have been donated by Graham Construction.
The Lloydminster Men’s Shelter has undertaken The Running for Shelter campaign with the aim of raising funding for a new shelter.
Kagan Kneen, the executive director of the men’s shelter set out on Aug. 1 from Big Berland campground on the far west of Alberta and will be running until Aug. 28 ending in Wroxton, Sask.
Kneen who is accompanied by a pilot vehicle driven by his mom have experienced some bumps in the road along the journey.
They experienced a heavy rainstorm and most recently one of the tires on the vehicle went flat. Equipped with a new set of tires Kneen ran on.
He says this run has given him some perspective on what the unhoused population deels with.
“I was thinking about two days ago while we were soaking wet and running the fact that, I always wondered why our clients, unhoused populations were sleeping in the middle of the day, it makes sense to me now,” he said in a Facebook video. “I got 4 hours of sleep in that pouring rain and the thunderstorm, I was exhausted, yes I still ran 60 km, if I could have slept in the middle of the day I absolutely would slept in the middle of the day, if there was somewhere warm and comfortable for me to sleep.”
Kneen will also be touring men’s shelters in Edmonton as he passes through the city.
The fundraising goal of the event is $300,000 and donations can be made online at the Lloydminster Men’s Shelter website.
Read More: New shelter’s plan for the unhoused
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