Warman’s Kaius Bergen is on mission to raise funds for UNICEF, by venturing on a 10-kilometre hike.
The six-year-old decided to raise money for “children who need money to eat.”
His original goal was $150 as that was enough to feed 50 children three meals, but he has already surpassed that goal and is now hoping to raise $300.
Kaius’ mom, Carla Blackwood said that since they are a “family of hikers” and they go for long walks with their dog regularly, this 10 kilometre hike seemed like the perfect way to raise that awareness.
“He thought that we could raise money through our neighbours just on our street and obviously with COVID-19 right now, I advised him against going to everybody’s door and asking for cash,” said Blackwood.
Blackwood said that Kaius suggested it would be a great idea to provide food to children who are less fortunate or living in poverty, after expressing his gratitude for food during a family supper conversation.
She also mentioned that topic was on his mind because it was something he was learning at the time in his Grade 1 class at Traditions Elementary School.
“They’ve been talking a lot about what makes a good friend, and during that topic I think children in need came up,” said Blackwood. “They’re also doing an art contest in school right now, that is about children all around the world.”
After Kaius and his family did some research online for the best way he can help in providing food to children, they landed on UNICEF.
“It works out that UNICEF works here in Canada for children in poverty as well as around the world and he thought that was pretty neat,” said Blackwood.
The original plan was for Kaius and his family to go on a 10-kilometre hike around the Meewasin trails in Saskatoon, where they usually walk their dog. However, with the recent stretch of extreme cold conditions outside, Kaius did part of his 10-kilometre hike indoors at the Legends Centre.
long-distance mission at the Legends Centre
“They allowed us to walk around the gym for about 30 minutes and we just recorded his distance with my Fitbit,” said Blackwood.
Kaius was able to cover a couple kilometers while making laps around the gym.
He also braved the cold on February 14, as the temperature in Warman was -32 C (-39 C with the windchill) when he started his hike in the morning.
“Basically we planned to walk to the grandparents’ place. Because it was family day weekend, we thought we would get them involved.
“So it was from Cornerbrook Court in Warman over to King Crescent,” Blackwood said.
Kaius also made the return trip home on foot and he covered a total of 5.8 kilometres.
So far, Kaius has walked 8.2 kilometres of his 10-kilometre goal and he plans to finish the rest of his hike at the Meewasin trails in Saskatoon, where he usually walks with his family
“He’s quite interested in the sections of the Meewasin Trail and normally when we do that as a family we walk up to four to five kilometres,” said Blackwood.
Blackwood said she is very proud of her son’s selflessness in helping those in need, by fundraising for UNICEF.
People who are interested in making a donation can do so via the donation page set up on the UNICEF website at https://amplify.netdonor.net/2261/fundraise-for-unicef-canada-en/104388/kaiuss-10k-hike.