Since May 1, Jimmy Lefebvre has been through five pairs of shoes.
That’s when the Alberta man and his family departed from Grand Prairie for Can-Survive Walk 2018, a cross-country walk to raise money and awareness for cancer support.
Each day, he’s walking 46 to 48 kilometres. The goal is to end the walk Aug. 31 at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church near St. Louis, P.E.I., where his father is buried.
Along the way he is collecting donations for the L Foundation, which he created to support initiatives raising awareness, providing education and funding treatment for the physical and mental health of people affected by cancer.
The L Foundation started taking root in 2015 when Lefebvre’s father, Simon, was diagnosed with cancer. He passed away in July 2016.
“And watching somebody that close to me suffer through and virtually wither away to nothing was where it really had an impact and really caused me to want to do something,” he said.
Last September, he decided to do the walk and everything started to fall into place.
Now, Lefebvre and his wife Kristie, mom Rita and three children Dylan, Kallyn and Kayden are crossing the country with a mobile home hoping to raise $100 million.
They’ve partnered with Canada Gives for the foundation, and Lefebvre hopes to distribute money every year.
“My intention is that it’s going to continue on for generations to come,” he said.
This leg of the walk has special meaning.
Lefebvre’s dad was born and raised in Moonbeam, and spent time in Kapuskasing and Timmins before moving out west.
“It was really neat to see some of the areas that dad had talked about and some of the things that he remembered and always discussed, to see them in a different light,” he said.
While he was in the area when he was about five, he doesn’t remember much.
“Coming through again as an adult seeing all these things that dad was talking about, the lakes and the different things, it’s been fantastic. We attempted to find the place where he grew up in Moonbeam and I’m not sure if we found the right house or not but we were looking,” he recalled.
Along the highway, they’ve been getting encouragement.
“It’s been fantastic, we’ve had tons of support on the highway; lots of people waving, lots of honks, lots of people stopping checking to see if we’re OK,” he said.
In Timmins, as they set out this morning they were led by a Timmins police cruiser, joined on the road by supporters. The Timmins fire department even joined the procession with firefighters and a fire truck.
Here's a video he recorded while walking through town today:
You can support their efforts at thelfoundation.ca or follow along with their journey on Facebook.
