Canadian Original: road trip with a reason
Sarah Galashan, B.C. Bureau Chief | CTV NewsNote from editor: On our Canadian Originals segment on CTV National
News, B.C. Bureau Chief Sarah Galashan profiles Becky Conlon -- a woman who has taken cross-country travel to a whole other level.
And if you know a 'Canadian Original' we should be featuring, please email us your ideas at originals@bellmedia.ca.
Ours is a big country, and crossing from coast to coast -- a very Canadian experience. Something that's on the ‘to do' lists of many who live in one province and long to see the others.
And in that respect Becky Conlon is no different than any of us.
But what sets Becky apart is her ability to make a difference. She believes non-profit charities are valuable community resources. And so when it came time for her to cross ‘Great Canadian Road Trip' off her list, she decided to take her time, stopping in communities along the way where she volunteered her time and skills in whatever ways she could.
In Nova Scotia she helped cook a lobster dinner for 200.
In Ottawa she lent a hand organizing a music festival.
She wrote grant proposals in Montreal and helped out at a food bank in Winnipeg.
I'd heard of ‘voluntourism' - using vacation time to volunteer abroad for a charitable cause. Often there's fundraising involved, almost always it seems the good deeds are done in a foreign country. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a very admirable way to spend a holiday. But then I met Becky.
Actually, one of our CTV interns and cameramen met her on Robson Street in Vancouver. The crew of two was out gathering opinions about something that was making news that day and Becky was among those they canvassed. She had just finished planting trees with at-risk youth and was heading to Vancouver Island where she was planning to serve a holiday dinner to the less fortunate.
Before Becky I'd have thought driving the 8,030-km length of the Trans-Canada highway was onerous and that the point of stopping along the way was to grab a snapshot of Saskatchewan's wheat fields or Niagara Falls.
But clearly there is more to do and see.
Becky put a very Canadian twist, on a great Canadian experience. Hers was a road trip with reason.
Becky Conlon after cooking a lobster dinner for 200 people
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The Vlladymir's Ukranian Park on a random country road in Saskatchewan.
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