Day 1 of Donovan Bailey’s whirlwind tour across the country in support of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada got off to a “flying” start as Donovan, Bruce MacDonald (President and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada ), and Marianne Noakes (ED, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hamilton-Burlington) joined Deputy Mayor Joan Lougheed in Burlington to raise the Big Brothers Big Sisters flag at City Hall. CKOC radio covered the event, and the “Burlington Post” sent a photographer for coverage.
From there, Donovan and Bruce headed off to EDULINX Canada, the tour’s sponsor. They were joined by Cathy Denyer (Executive Director, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Peel) and some of her staff who have worked closely with the many In School Mentors who work at EDULINX. Donovan received a warm welcome by former Big Brother and President of EDULINX, George Hopkinson, and then had a chance to speak to employees and tour the facility to extend our appreciation for everything EDULINX has done to support the Big Brothers Big Sisters movement through its scholarship fund, the EDULINX Big Swing Golf Tournament and, of course, the Mentoring Awareness Tour.
Donovan, George and Bruce then headed off to the Canadian Club of Toronto, where Donovan was the keynote luncheon speaker in a room packed with corporate guests, students, and agency reps from both Peel and Toronto. The speech was covered live by Rogers Cable, and will be re-aired a number of times throughout this week.
With dessert barely finished, Donovan headed off to the airport for the second stop of the tour: Edmonton!
He was greeted at the airport by a throng of fans, media and autograph hounds, who Donovan charmed with his easy accessibility and good humour. He was met by Liz O’Neill (Executive Director, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Edmonton) and Rick Walters (Mentoring Manager with the Alberta Government and former Edmonton Oiler), and was whisked away to a dinner with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Edmonton Board Members and corporate supporters. When Rick mentioned that a friend could get Donovan an impromptu appearance on a late-night sports show on CFRM, Donovan readily agreed, and his hectic day ended just before midnight.