Here’s a Canadian road trip that everyone can celebrate.
To mark his 50th birthday, Coquitlam, B.C. REALTOR® Léo Bruneau drove across Canada to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network.
He made the same trip to mark his 30th birthday and then repeated it a decade later for his 40th birthday. Each trip he makes, he earns more money to donate. The more he donates, he says, the better he feels.
“I believe children are the future of our country and I want to showcase the spirt of giving,” says Bruneau, who in late July was charging his car near Halifax while juggling phone calls from well-wishers and fellow REALTORS® who wanted to donate to the cause. “The Children’s Miracle Network is close to my heart and this is a fundraiser where I and everyone else can feel good about helping kids who really need it.”
While the road trip ended on July 16, Bruneau continued fundraising until the day of his birthday, August 13. He started driving in June from Coquitlam, B.C.
On that first trip in 2003 when he turned 30, he drove a Volkswagen van, making friends as he travelled across the country. The first trip he raised $6,700 and the second trip more than $14,000. This trip, 86 people had donated and on average it works out to about $1,000 per person, he says.
Bruneau’s goal on this trip was to hit $50,000. He’d already beat that when he got to Ontario. By the time he hit Quebec, he’d got to $71,000, then raised his goal again to $73,000, and by the time he got to Nova Scotia he’d pushed past $84,650 with donations continuing to roll in. On the day of his 50th birthday, Bruneau had raised $131,700 or the Children’s Miracle Network, more than double his initial goal.
The money raised goes toward children’s hospitals, including which serve the communities that he is visiting. While he didn’t have a set route when starting out, he was making calls ahead to REALTORS® who he could meet and zigzagging across the country.
“You could say I was following the money so that I could raise the most funds possible,” he says. “I was still trying to make time for family and friends along the way as well as meeting new people.”
He spent a night sleeping in his car beneath an animal hospital sign on Vancouver Island before driving to pitch a tent on a fellow REALTOR®’s property on the outskirts of Victoria. Otherwise, he stayed occasionally in motels, hotels or sometimes at the houses of people (including other REALTORS®) who put him up for the night.
“This trip and fundraising would not be possible without the support of my wife, Kristen McNaughton, who is a RE/MAX REALTOR® in Calgary helping me with all of it,” says Bruneau.
Bruneau was inspired to make his first cross country fundraising trip after attending a RE/MAX celebration in 1998 for the Children’s Miracle Network and meeting a little girl who was receiving help from donations. She got on stage and sang the song “It’s a Small World” and it had an emotional impact on him.
“It just tore at my heart and I knew I wanted to do something special to help,” he says.
As for his favourite spot along the way, The Terry Fox Memorial and Lookout on the outskirts of Thunder Bay, Ont. is at the top of the list.
How has the country and landscape changed since his last two trips?
Surprisingly, he says, not too much. “It’s amazing how far you can drive without really seeing anyone, Canada is so huge. It’s an awesome country but it still needs improvement. The children are our future.”
Congratulations Leo! We are so proud of everything you have accomplished and all that you continue to do for Children’s Hospitals. I look forward to seeing you at Activate.