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‘Ruck 2 Remember’ hopes to raise $500k this year for homeless veterans

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A group of hikers on a journey across Ontario are aiming to raise money for homeless veterans and have made a stop in Hamilton on August 2.

The hikers have stopped at the Dundas branch of the Royal Canadian Legion. They are performing a “ruck” march along the Bruce Trail. A “ruck” is a military term referring to a hike using a backpack. The hikers do the journey every year.

“Ruck 2 Remember” was founded in 2014 by Lino Di Julio. He says he wanted to find a way to contribute to the veteran community.

“I myself wasn’t able to serve, I have epilepsy which prevented me from joining the forces, so I was looking for a way to contribute and help that community in particular,” said Di Julio. “I had some friends that were in at the time and they said there were other ways to help out… I looked around and didn’t really find anything that was doing a lot of active work, so I started ‘Ruck to Remember.'”

Facebook: R2R – Ruck 2 Remember. Lino Di Julio (bottom left)

Di Julio says in the first year of the event, the group rucked from Hamilton to Parry Sound. The hikers would carry bricks in their backpacks that were engraved with the names, ranks and hometowns of those who lost their lives in Afghanistan. In that first year, the event raised around $27,000.

Nine years later, Di Julio says the event has raised just shy of $500,000 in total.

According to the group’s GoFundMe page, this year’s journey began in Tobermory around 30 days ago. Their goal is to march all the way to Niagara Falls. That’s a 900 km trek on the Bruce Trail.

Facebook: R2R – Ruck 2 Remember.

“This year we had a bigger goal,” said Di Julio. “We wanted to do $500,000 in one year, so that meant more work and bigger sacrifices, but we wanted to keep it iconic and tailored to Ontario and things that are related to Canada directly… the Bruce Trail is just so intrinsically Canadian, we couldn’t think of a better route to do.”

So far on their GoFundMe they have raised about $160,000 and they are aiming to reach $500,000 this year for veterans in need. All the money will be given to the Royal Canadian Legion and other charitable foundations.

The group says they are expecting to reach Niagara Falls by Sunday.

If you would like to donate, click here.

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