104-year-old Victoria man completes final laps of 104-lap walk for charity
With more than 100 supporters cheering him on, veteran John Hillman walked the final 14 laps of 104 laps around the courtyard of his Oak Bay retirement home in his effort to raise money for the charity Save the Children.
The 104-year-old Second World War veteran started his epic fundraising journey on May 1. His goal over the 10 days was to raise $104,000 as he walked 104 circuits of the Carlton House courtyard.
Now that Hillman has completed his trek to help children, he says he is overwhelmed by the support he has received from the community.
So far, his 2023 campaign has raised more than $75,000.
“I didn’t expect quite so many [supporters] but I’m very pleased to have them,” said Hillman. “I’m proud of myself and I’ve done what I intended to do."
This is the fourth year Hillman has embarked on his drive to raise money for children in need. Since he completed his first walk of 100 laps in 2019, he has raised almost $400,000 for Save the Children.
Hillman was joined on his final 14 laps by the head of the Canadian children’s charity.
Staff with the agency say they are increasingly responding to more crises globally and due to the pandemic, much of the progress the charity has made during the past three decades has taken a step back due to ongoing challenges.
“John’s support and the support from this community has been huge and we’ve been able to scale up our work in many parts of the world,” said Save the Children president and CEO Danny Glenwright. “John’s really committed to children in crisis and to making sure children have an education and that’s the work that Save the Children does.”
Hillman says he still has a little way to go to reach his $104,000 goal, but he is confident it will be met in the next few days.
As for his plans to walk 105 laps to raise $105,000, for the children’s charity, Hillman says he will have to think about it.
“I’ll see what 105 brings me and I’ll make up my mind later on,” said Hillman.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING BMO says 'technical team investigating' after customers report outage
The Bank of Montreal says its "technical team is investigating" following customer reports of an outage.
NEW How car thefts are impacting your insurance, even if your car isn't stolen
As the number of auto theft incidents rises in Canada, so have insurance premiums for drivers, even the ones whose vehicles aren't stolen.
B.C. mortgage broker ran $270-million Ponzi scheme, then fled Canada, bankruptcy trustee says
The trustee appointed to manage the bankruptcies of a Victoria mortgage company and its owner has concluded that they committed "numerous offences" and operated as a "massive Ponzi scheme."
'I'm not wealthy': Ontario senior shocked she owes $40,000 in capital gains after gifting land
An Ontario senior who wanted to help her daughter and grandson eventually own homes one day decided to give them two lots on her property as a gift—but she didn’t know it would eventually cost her tens of thousands of dollars.
opinion Trump's Republicans falling far behind in fundraising, infrastructure
In his latest column for CTVNews.ca, Washington political analyst Eric Ham explains how and why Republicans -- up and down the ballot -- are falling far behind Democrats in both fundraising and infrastructure.
Canadians are eyeing moves to these cities for more affordable housing
Faced with elevated housing prices, half of Canadians in the country's largest cities are considering moving to places with more affordable housing.
Canadians' interest in buying EVs fades as barriers, concerns remain: J.D. Power
A new study finds fewer Canadians say they're interested in buying an electric vehicle as concerns remain about limited driving ranges, high prices and a lack of charging stations.
McDonald's says US$18 Big Mac meal was an 'exception' and their prices haven't risen that much
McDonald’s is fighting back against viral tweets and media reports that it says have exaggerated its price increases.
Oilers rally to beat Stars, tie Western Conference Final
With the Edmonton Oilers down two goals late in the first period of Game 4, Rogers Place was quiet, fans seemingly bewildered at the early, quick scoring of the Dallas Stars and the slow start by the home team. Ryan McLeod's marker with six-and-a-half minutes in the opening frame left changed all that.