By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. May 29, 2013. The run doesn’t take place until September but this year expect to see a lot of new faces serving as volunteers.
The event has taken place for the many years and, like any organization, new people are needed to replace those that have done their turn and want to move on.
Getting new people is easier said than done but when Don Carmichael, the current president of the Burlington event, wondered aloud at a meeting of the current volunteers, if perhaps they could persuade Casey Cosgrove to get involved. We urged Carmichael to at least give Casey a call.
Last year Casey had a team of people running the race and he was a natural for this initiative
Casey Cosgrove had a couple of hundred people walking with him last year in the Terry Fox Run. This year he will serve on the organising committee – imagine if those who ran and walked with Cosgrove all volunteered as well? This is going to be THE event come September. Get your name on the list now.
Cosgrove told his Facebook friends that: “I recently met with the really nice folks who organize the Terry Fox Run here in Burlington and I have decided this is a cause I want to help more with, and have joined the committee. This year’s run is September 15th. One of the things I know I can help with is reaching out for some new blood/volunteers. So that’s where I am starting – if anyone would like to help on some way – in advance, or the day of, send me a message. I am hoping to get a bunch of adults, as well as a bunch of teenagers. It’s a small local event, but one near and dear to me as those who know me well are aware. I don’t want people to feel compelled, but if this sounds like something you’d like to connect to, I’d love to bring you in the fold.”
We call that stepping up to the plate. Kudos to the “cause” and his case.
Cosgrove takes credit for getting the current Mayor in office. When Cosgrove ran against Rick Goldring and a number of others in the 2006 election he lost to Goldring by very few votes. That made Goldring the Council member for Ward 5 for the 2006-2010 term after which Goldring went on to become Mayor. Cosgrove argues that had he won in 2006 we would not have Goldring as Mayor. That’s a bit of a stretch but it’s one Cam Jackson would have liked to seen as true.
Cosgrove has this capacity to draw people to him. His personal health issues kept him away from serving publicly but – well the Terry Fox run has a special meaning for him.
We wish him well – and watch how he pulls in the volunteers.
