WINNIPEG -- A 95-year-old Manitoba man is hitting the pavement to raise $100,000 for Manitoba arts organizations.
Dr. Douglas MacEwan is turning 96 on Nov. 11.
For 96 days straight, up until his birthday, he’s walking one kilometre a day to raise $100,000 to be split between the Manitoba Opera, the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.
“These artists must keep performing or they lose the skill,” MacEwan said.
“So it’s very, very important that we get some support that they can call upon to keep performing and keep entertaining the public.”
MacEwan said he was motivated to do the event after receiving a letter from a sponsor, saying that if he walks one kilometre a day up to his birthday, the sponsor will give him $50,000 for the organizations of his choice.
“He said if I walked with a partner, if I could find a partner to walk with every day, he would raise it to $100,000,” MacEwan said, noting he picked the four organizations with his daughter.
“So that’s $25,000 for each of the arts groups, who desperately need support now with the coronavirus causing all of the trouble it is.”
MacEwan said if arts organizations were to shut down due to the pandemic, it would be terrible.
“It would be a disaster for Manitoba and Canada,” he said.
As for whether MacEwan is up for the challenge of walking a kilometre a day for 96 days, he said he has a large garden which he works on three hours a day, so adding in one kilometre of walking will be easy.
“I’m in good shape,” he said.
- With files from CTV's Renee Rodgers.
