When Andy Montgomery, Senior Portfolio Manager & Wealth Advisor at RBC Dominion Securities, and his son Connor, a second-year civil engineering student at Queen’s University decided to create an entire fundraising campaign around the Brent Run 2023 – a 162 km canoe journey in support of Camp Mini-Yo-We, they knew they were in for the ride of their lives.
The Brent Run is no small feat –especially when it’s done in a cedar strip canoe with 22 kilometers of portaging in Algonquin Provincial Park. While this wouldn’t be an easy journey for this father/son duo, they were inspired by a passion for adventure as well as a quest to change the lives of children in need. With an original goal of raising $50,000 to send 50 kids to camp – Andy and Connor ended up raising more than $100,000, which will send more than 100 kids to camp for the summer.
Camp Mini-Yo-We in Muskoka has been a continuous presence in Andy and Connor’s lives, with Andy crediting it to how he met his wife, and Connor finding it to be a pivotal part of his overall leadership skill development.
“Our motivation came from the thought that this adventure is about helping others and would really give us the inspiration we needed to take it forward – and that worked out perfectly! So, we did it for the children – giving them an unforgettable camp experience where they could develop important life skills was the ultimate motive. – Andy Montgomery
After what seemed like endless preparation, which included intensive weather tracking, physical training, and whatever mental prep they could muster, they embarked on their journey in the early morning of July 27th. The overall trip took 30+ hours of ongoing traveling. They faced challenges along the way such as issues with their canoe, unexpected fog, and an exhaustion they couldn’t have imagined. By the time the pair reached the finish line, they were amazed to see that the interview they had done with a local radio station prior to heading out resulted in hundreds of folks coming out to cheer them on as they wrapped up their journey.
“We set up a satellite tracker thinking that a few of our family members might like to know where we were during the journey. As it turns out, literally hundreds of people were tracking us. When we got to the finish line, there was a crowd of people waiting and cheering us on…we had no idea!”
While Andy and his son aren’t sure if they’ll take on the trip again in the future, it was more fun than they both could’ve imagined and had a profound impact on them both. His message for other RBC employees is to do this kind of thing – to find something they’re passionate about or step out of that comfort zone to do something intentionally hard while helping others. It’s such a great feeling.