The Canadian Walk for Veterans is coming to a community near you on September 20 and 21 – it’s a great way to connect with your neighbours, and support local and national programs for Veterans, servicepeople and their families. Click here to find a Walk near you.  

True Patriot Love spoke to Veteran Wade Wick, the team lead for the Walk in Courtenay, BC, about the value of giving back, his advice for other team leads, and the surprising connection between the Courtenay Walk and skydiving. 

How did you get involved with the Canadian Walk for Veterans in Courtenay? 

It all started with a bunch of Veterans coming together for Operation Pegasus Jump, a skydiving get together up at Campbell River. It’s become a kind of place of pilgrimage for many Veterans and first responders to meet up and do some skydiving. Through that I met Toby who was the lead for the Walk here in Courtenay. But he was leaving the country, so he was kind of like, ‘Here’s the banner. Here’s the contact info. You’re doing the Walk next year.’” I was like, “OK, thanks.” We pulled it together the first year, then the second year we grew it a little bit with live music and a brewery partnership to get traction for fundraising. This year we’re hoping to make it a bit bigger.  

Apart from Toby handing you the reins, why did you decide to get involved in the Walk for Veterans? 

It’s all about giving back and I want to give back to the things that have helped me get to the positive point I’m at now. I’m going to volunteer where I can, and be an active part of my kids’ community. It’s about being part of that community and the sense of purpose that is bigger than yourself, which was a driving factor behind everything that we did in the military. This is my community, and I want to establish some good roots – which is an absolutely new mindset for a guy who was posted every couple of years or never home! 

Do you think there’s a particular value for Veterans in volunteering in their community? 

I would say there definitely is. That’s a link between all of us: we all joined the service with a common calling to do better for others, that was what drew me to becoming a soldier. I joined at 17 as a reservist and then went into the RegForce right after high school. I was a career soldier and that was what I wanted to do. I had no fallback plan. I was 37 when I got released, and you completely lose that purpose. When you volunteer in your community, you’re rebuilding – it’s not the same tree, but it’s a plant that still gives you life. You feel good that you’re helping out again. “Help out and leave it better than you found it” is my motto. 

Do you have any advice for first-time Walk leaders? 

You can’t do it alone. In the first year, I didn’t ask for a lot of help, either because I didn’t really know how to ask or I didn’t know what was available to me. But now that we have a website with downloadable banners and maps and everything, it’s good to go. I handed the registration part over to a friend of mine and his wife who really want to help out. I’m learning managerial balance. 

What do you wish more Canadians knew about their Armed Forces and about Veterans? 

Like most Canadians, unless you live near a base, you don’t have much interaction with the military. You learn about it on Remembrance Day. I remember World War I and World War II Veterans who would come to assemblies at school, and they were already my grandfather’s age. There was no such thing as a young Veteran when I was growing up. But what many Canadians don’t realize is that there are Afghanistan war era Veterans who are still in their 30s. Some of them got knocked down hard, and they need help moving forward and getting their bearings back. 

This September, you can be a force that supports our Forces!  

Go to the Canadian Walk for Veterans website to learn more