The first annual Calgary Jeepers for Vets was an incredible success, considering it only kicked off a month earlier!
Although Mother Nature decided to be a bit grumpy that morning (we had rain, snow and wind) I think she forgot who she was dealing with…
35 Jeeps participated, including a 1946 Willys that took the lead (topless and windowshield-less) in the convoy to the Kensington Legion. There were boxes and boxes and bags and bags of food and toiletries donated, and we ran out of space in the Legion office for donations so started a second pile in the Mess Hall.
A huge thank you to everyone who showed up with donations, who collected donations at work and those who couldn’t make the event but still provided some donations to be delivered. A shout out of kudos to those who added some Christmas cheer to their Jeeps (I’m working on some prizes for various things next year :).
Big thank yous also go out to:
- McMahon Stadium who let us meet there with very short notice.
- Dave at the Canadian Legacy Project who helped spread the word to the media.
- 660News who advertised the event and nicely tied in Paul Brandt’s Convoy to the Saturday announcement.
- The Kensington Legion who let us converge on their parking lot and their building to drop off the donations and then asked us to stay a while to chat and have some fresh, hot coffee.
- The men’s choral group at the Kensington Legion who provided some great entertainment. (I’m not sure if they expected a big audience, but they were great!)
- The Calgary Jeep Association and the Calgary Jeep Junkies who helped spread the word on their forums.
- Anybody else I forgot who helped out with this event. (If I did, let me know and I’ll add you!)
Hope to see everybody (and lots more) next year!
— Steve
