Advocating For Seniors One Step At A Time On A 2,000 Kilometre Plus Journey

A senior is walking two thousand kilometres from the Alaskan border to Chilliwack to raise awareness for seniors.

64-year-old Grant Beacock from Chilliwack said the idea behind this quest that started the end of April came from when he was only twelve years old.

“My dad asked my mom what she wanted for Christmas and she said that she wanted a grandfather for the kids because ours had passed. So my dad put an ad on the radio station in Ottawa saying we wanted to adopt an elderly gentleman for Christmas and special occasions and our phone went crazy. We ended up adopting a man named Bob as their grandfather and he stayed many years with us. Then we managed to place 20 other families with grandparents three days before Christmas.”

Beacock said as he meets people in various communities along the way he advocates for seniors in those towns and cities to be actively included as volunteers or mentors.

He noted that seniors have so much to still give but are an under utilized resource for families that may not have elders, schools, and all kinds of organizations that can always use a helping hand.

“I just really hope that people will give some thought to what I’m walking for and that’s getting involved with the seniors in your community. Get them involved with you but you get involved with them to. I think you can do it and you’re going to gain so much out of it. The years I had with Grampa Bob were just fantastic so I wish everybody could experience the same thing I have.”

Beacock said so far residents in the North have been more than receptive to his call for elderly inclusion in their communities.

“Retired school teachers seem to lead the pack on that. They come up to me, tell they’re retired and I know exactly what you’re talking about and these kids do need seniors. When you get teachers that are talking about this the only thing I can hope for is that somebody listens to them or they themselves can take the initiative and try to build it in their community. I’m only one person, I’m going to try my best right as I walk to Chilliwack that if I can help somebody else in another community I would do that,” Beacock said.

Beacock said age is just a number, and there’s not that much that number really stands for other than we’re getting up there.

“I’m just rusting a little bit on the inside, it just slows me down but it doesn’t put an end to me. My mind is still sharp, it’s still good, so ya age is just a number.”