IRONMAN INITIATIVE
Fundraising for downtown
As triathlete Mike Willms gears up for the gruelling Ironman Florida race, he also wants to use his training time to raise money for the downtown where he lives.
A big supporter of the Downtown Windsor Community Collaborative, Willms said that, as with triathlon training, “with efforts at the grassroots level, we can see the impossible happen.”
The Ironman Triathlon involves a 3.8-km swim, 180-km bike race and 42.2-km run, or full marathon — all on the same day. Willms sees similarities in the challenges facing downtown Windsor and the challenges faced by those preparing for such a race.
“It sounds nearly impossible, but ordinary people can do extraordinary things,” he said Wednesday during the campaign kickoff, which included a $1,000 cheque to the community collaborative from The Warehouse Guys and Manor Realty’s Vanguard Team.
The community collaborative connects residents with renewal efforts in the downtown, including through the Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market, the Little Things Matter program, Sport 4 All fitness programs, the Community Cafe, neighbourhood cleanups, community gardens and citizen advocacy. It will be the first Ironman for Willms in November, but Harrow ’s Lionel Sanders is a 22- time Iron man champion who is also a big supporter of the local initiative. Sanders, currently training in Hawaii for the World Championships, credits the community for helping him overcome his own challenges with addiction. “I love this community. They embraced me when I was in my darker days,” Sanders said in a statement.
To find out more, to get involved or contribute, visit www.dwcc.ca/ ironman online. Starting Oct. 1, donations can also be made by texting “ironman” to 45678 to give $20 to the community collaborative. The campaign runs until the Ironman Florida race on Nov. 3.
Steve Coupland of the community collaborative said it is dedicated to “making downtown Windsor a great place to grow up and a great place to grow old.”