An 86-year-old senior from Beachburg is taking on a fundraising walk Saturday to support renovations to the Beachburg Arena. Russell Mackay, also known as Papa, has taken on similar challenges for charity in the past. In 2020, Mackay took on a 125-kilometre, multi-day walk from Beachburg to Ottawa in support of Children's Hospital of eastern Ontario (CHEO), raising $120,000.
Papa also walked across Renfrew County in 2021 to fundraise for Hospice Renfrew, trekked from Guelph to Toronto for Sick Kids Hospital in 2022, and hiked across the Pontiac to the Shawville Fair for CHEO in 2023. Across all his fundraising campaigns, Mackay has walked over 270 km and raised more than $200,000. The Beachburg Arena was closed for several years during the pandemic.
It required repairs and contributions from volunteers to reopen again. Mackay's walk Saturday takes place from 1 p.m.
to 3 p.m. on the Beachburg Fairgrounds track.
Mackay is inviting friends and families from the community to join him on his walk this afternoon. The 86-year-old MacKay is diabetic and legally blind. He walks every day to keep his diabetes in check and says he was inspired to help the kids at CHEO after visiting the hospital for eye specialist appointments.
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