Over 60 registered walkers of all ages and mobility, gathered at the Kiwanis Field for the Grand River Council on Aging’s fourth annual Grand Parade on Saturday, September 21, 2024.
A registered charitable non-profit organization, the Grand River Council on Aging (GRCOA) is dedicated to encouraging and engaging the development of an age-friendly community for people “five to 105.”
Lucy Marco, Executive Director of the GRCOA, said that the council works in partnership with the surrounding municipalities and community organizations by collaborating, facilitating and participating in age-friendly awareness/planning focus groups and workshops, both virtually and in person.
“Both the City of Brantford and the County of Brant are recognized as Age-Friendly Communities by the World Health Organization and so the role of the GRCOA is to share our lived experiences as it relates to achieving the eight domains of an age-friendly community,” she said. “We pass on our experiences to organizations and municipalities so they can use that when planning for the future because we’ve got the experience of how the community has changed over the years, and we’ve learned to cope with change.”
Marco said the annual walk is essential in being able to continue all the activities that the GRCOA does to keep older adults engaged in the community.
“Because the GRCOA is a registered charity it is dependent upon raising funds for operating dollars to run things. The Grand Parade is our signature fundraising event and it’s a national event that’s held right across Canada, in fact, this year, there were 33 locations participating this year,” she said. “It’s really just a fun, age-friendly and intergenerational event that celebrates the older adults in our community. The dollars we raise here in Brantford, stay in Brantford and they go towards the operating costs to run and continue all the activities we put on to keep older adults engaged, informed and connected to the community they live in.”
On the day, around 100 participants from Brantford-Brant, British Columbia, Quebec and Saskatchewan, all stepped up to help raise the GRCOA’s goal of $30,000.
“We had 99 walkers that were registered, 63 showed up at the Kiwanis Field on the day and then there were others who were doing it from wherever they were doing it which was just great,” said Marco.
Of the $27,879 raised from the Grand Parade, Marco’s team, “Lucy’s Strollers,” strutted to success by raising an impressive $6,800, earning them the eighth spot out of 399 teams across Canada.
With 26 teams taking part, five local retirement homes also got in on the action, joining the Parade atHome Challenge, where residents and staff got into the spirit with mini parades right at their front doors.
Speaking about the overall event, Marco said she was thrilled with the turnout and above all else, grateful for those who gave their support.
“We had a great turnout and wonderful support,” she said. “It’s all thanks to our volunteers and the people that support what they do, and the people that support the older adults in this community and what we do, it really was just a great day.”
While the GRCOA is just shy of its overall goal, Marco said that people can still donate towards the cause until October 31, 2024, and can do so by visiting https://thegrandparade.org/location/brantford
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
