Members of a group in support of first responders and veterans are walking through Grey Bruce on a 900 km trek of the entire Bruce Trail.
Their “Ruck the Bruce” walk is in support of a legion program called ‘Operation: Leave the Streets Behind’ which aims to help veterans experiencing homelessness. “Rucking” is a military term for trekking along with a backpack or ‘rucksack.’
Bayshore Broadcasting News encountered walkers Joey Dimauro and Lino Di Julio in the Waverly Heights area, on the edge of Owen Sound Friday, where they were walking alongside Canadian Armed Forces veteran and Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound Conservative MP Alex Ruff who joined them for a roughly 10 km portion of the walk. On Thursday, Di Julio and Dimauro were visited at the legion in Owen Sound by Mayor Ian Boddy.
Dimauro and Di Julio are part of a not-for-profit organization called Ruck 2 Remember which raises awareness and funds to support paramedics, firefighters, law enforcement, members of the military and veterans.
Thier walk began on July 5th in Tobermory and is set to continue until August 8th when they reach Hamilton. They’re working with the Royal Canadian Legion’s Ontario Command, and staying in legions when they can, along the way.
On Friday, they started with breakfast at the Owen Sound Legion and set out for a 30km walk towards the Chatsworth Legion (branch 464).
On July 16th, they’ll have breakfast at the Chatsworth Legion and then walk 30 kms towards the Rocklyn Creek Management Area and then head to the Clarksburg Legion branch 281.
On July 17th, they’ll have breakfast at the Clarksburg Legion and then walk in the direction of Flesherton. On the 18th, and 19th they’ll continue their walk in the Flesherton area before heading back to Clarksburg.
Their trek will take them through Collingwood, Creemore, Shelburne, Caledon ,Erin, Georgetown, Milton, Burlingrton, Dundas, and back into the Hamilton area.
You can donate to their cause on their ‘Ruck The Bruce’ GoFundMe page. You can see their schedule HERE.
The organization’s first ‘ruck’ was in 2014, from Hamilton to the legion in Parry Sound, and was done in memory of the 158 Canadian soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan, as well as to raise awareness about post-traumatic stress.
Since then, they have held annual walks in support of first responders and veterans.
Their website says so far, the Operation: Leave The Streets Behind program, supported by legions has helped to get 752 off the streets and into permanent housing.
The Ruck To Remember (R2R) organization says it’s always looking for new members either to do chase vehicle duty, or media. They say if you have a skill set you think could help raise awareness and funds to end veteran homeless reach out by email admin@ruck2remember.com.
Got to have breakfast with @ruck_to_remember marchers with @tedwardyates Drop by 5pm event today at OS Legion raising awareness and funds for Operation Leave the Streets Behind Homeless Veterans @CityOwenSound pic.twitter.com/YFkuocGv4K
— Ian C. Boddy (@ian_boddy) July 14, 2022
