Port Dover man walks 800 kilometres to raise money for homeless veterans

At 65 years old, Ken MacKay is about to head out on the longest walk of his life – 800 kilometres from Windsor to Ottawa – for a good cause.

“I’m doing it for homeless Canadian veterans,” MacKay said in an interview.

He’s teamed up with a group called Homes for Heroes, a housing support program for veterans.

They’ve built several supportive housing villages in Calgary, Edmonton and Kingston. Next on the list is London, Ontario.

Each village has a resource centre and twenty 300-square-foot tiny homes for veterans to live.

Helping veterans is close to home for MacKay, who served in the Canadian Forces himself.

“I didn’t go overseas, didn’t see anything bad – but many did, and I think the government is letting them down,” he said.

“They shouldn’t have to fight another war.”

Ken will begin his trek at the end of April, and is expected to finish the first week of June in Ottawa.

Last year, he did a 320 kilometre hike in the mountains of northern Spain with his daughter. He knows spring weather in Ontario can be unpredictable, but he’s ready for it.

“When I was in Spain I was in the mountains,” he said.

“My daughter and I walked for six days in the rain. We had military ponchos. There’s going to be rain but I’ll be ready for it.”

MacKay is the Sgt. at Arms with the Port Dover Legion. He’ll be stopping at 36 Legions along the way.

Ken has raised $9,000 so far, but his goal is $250,000.

Donations can be made at https://h4hfevents.crowdchange.ca/92701

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