Boomer’s Legacy donates to HeroWork

Boomer’s Legacy team members approach the finish point at the Legislature Building, June 12. Photo by Cpl Brent Kenny,  MARPAC Imaging Services

Boomer’s Legacy team members approach the finish point at the Legislature Building, June 12. Photo by Cpl Brent Kenny,
MARPAC Imaging Services

Peter Mallett, Staff Writer ~

A $20,000 donation by the Boomer’s Legacy Foundation to HeroWork will elevate Esquimalt-based Rainbow Kitchen’s ability to help those in need.

The donation was presented to the Victoria-based charity by Maureen Eykelenboom, Boomer’s Legacy Foundation founder, and Capt(N) Steve Waddell, Base Commander, at the Legislature following the conclusion of  the ninth annual Boomers Legacy B.C. Bike Ride on June 12.

HeroWork will now use the funds to mobilize the community to make repairs and upgrades to the Esquimalt United Church that houses Rainbow Kitchen.

“It was a profound and heart-felt moment when all the Boomer’s cyclists arrived on the Legislature lawn, and it was a great honour to receive their support,” said Paul Latour, HeroWork founder and executive director. “Despite a long day in the saddle, the cyclists were all smiling and cheerful because they knew they were riding on behalf of their fallen comrades and their community.”

The bike ride pulled together over 100 military and civilian riders and support personnel in a two-day, 240 kilometre ride from 19 Wing CFB Comox to the Legislature grounds in Victoria.

Boomer’s Legacy Foundation was founded by Maureen Eykelenboom, mother of Cpl Andrew ‘Boomer’ Eykelenboom, a medic with 1 Field Ambulance killed in Afghanistan in 2006.
The foundation is operated by the Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services (CFMWS) through the Support Our Troops Program, and distributes funds to people in need, both domestically and abroad.

Lt(N) Colin Dudeck, a marine systems engineer with the Halifax Class Modernization Project, joined HeroWork  last year and said the $500,000 renovation project at the church will include a new roof, electrical upgrades, kitchen and bathroom upgrades, new flooring, landscaping, and repainting.

Rainbow Kitchen provides lunches for up to 150 people per day, including street youth, single parents and their children, the unemployed, homeless and individuals on social assistance, and seniors on fixed incomes.

HeroWork was founded in 2010 and by the end of this project will have completed approximately $1.8 million of its “Radical Renovations” to aging and decaying structures operated by community support organizations in Victoria. Their work has included overhauls to the Citizen’s Counselling Centre in 2015, Threshold Housing in 2014, and the Mustard Seed Foodbank in 2013.

Much like the work Habitat Humanity has done in providing homes for the homeless, Latour said the group’s Radical Renovations are similar to old-fashioned barn-raisings in agricultural communities, where all members of the community come out and work together to help out their neighbours.  

Lt(N) Dudeck worked on last year’s project and said he’s very excited about this year’s effort where he will be working on the Project Management team.

“The really cool thing about this project for myself and people at the base is the church is in right in our backyard, and is an important stakeholder and contributor to the community and needs our assistance,” said Lt(N) Dudeck.

HeroWork is currently looking for volunteers for the project that will start Sept. 16 and continue for three consecutive weekends until the “Big Reveal” on Oct. 2. They are looking for both skilled tradespeople and anyone who can lend a hand in other parts of the project, including clearing debris, shoveling, lifting and carrying items, cooking, and registering volunteers.

Anyone interested is asked to write Lt(N) Dudeck at Colin.Dudeck@forces.gc.ca.

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