2023 Mind Aid Bike Ride Across Canada
Donations:
1. I would like funds raised to go to the Schizophrenia Society of Canada (SSC)
or your own provincial Schizophrenia Society.
***On the forms, put "Mind Aid" in the optional private message/comment box
so they can track how much money is raised.
Donate to SSC here: https://schizophrenia.ca/donate
Donate to your provincial Schizophrenia Society here:
***On the forms, put "Mind Aid" in the optional private message/comment box
so they can track how much money is raised.
2. I would also love if people donated to the Mind Aid nonprofits so that people with
mental illness in developing countries can get access to basic mental health care.
Donate to the Mind Aid nonprofits here: "Mind Aid - Donate"
Tentative itinerary (a full, but tentative, itinerary is at the bottom of this page):
June 4 - leave Vancouver, BC
June 14 - Banff, AB
June 21 - enter Saskatchewan
June 28 - enter Manitoba
July 4 - Kenora, ON
July 15 - Wawa, ON
August 1 - enter Quebec
August 6 - enter New Brunswick
August 15 - enter PEI
August 16 - enter Nova Scotia
August 19 - enter Newfoundland
Check on the Mind Aid blog and on Mind Aid social media for updates before and during the trip!
After the trip is over, I will go back to my regular speaking and advocacy work. But next summer, I may want to do the trip again! It could become an annual event! A couple of months of biking and speaking, and then 10 months of "regular" speaking and advocacy work, rinse and repeat!
I hope as time goes on that I will be able to pay my own way with speaking opportunities (or maybe my own nonprofit or social business someday). Right now, I'm struggling financially somewhat. Whether it's poor choices or simply having schizophrenia or other things, I'm not sure.
If anyone would like to donate to pay my living expenses to do this advocacy work fulltime, that would mean the world to me. I would like to raise millions of dollars to help others with mental illness over my lifetime.
Hopefully I'll be able to be self-sufficient before too long. I'm not sure what kind of sponsorships I'll get for this bike ride, but I hope it will bring a lot of buzz to what I do (by the way, my nickname is "Buzz", so I always get a kick out of when I can use "buzz" in a sentence!), and help me become a more in-demand speaker and advocate.
I know so many people are struggling financially right now, and it is hard for me to ask for help, but if anyone wants to donate to me, it would mean a lot.
Here are ways to donate to me:
Or hire me to speak at my speaking page here.
Thanks so much, everyone...let's go help some people suffering...they're waiting for us.
~ Matthew Dickson, Founder of Mind Aid
Driver details:
Please email me at info@mindaid.ca if you want to be a driver!
I am working on sponsorships so the driver(s) and I don't have to pay for much at all: food, gas, vehicle, hotels (camping is possible, but hotels would be better for internet access, for me doing interviews, plus putting on events along the route).
The driver would pretty much have to drive and not much else. Some bike repair skills or social media/photo/video skills would be beneficial but not mandatory.
The driver wouldn't have to help out at the events in the evenings (people in each community from mental health groups could do that), but they would be more than welcome to attend!
Driving to grocery stores/restaurants and the occasional bike shop in case of repairs. Driving me to/from events each/most nights.
Roughly one rest day a week.
A number of drivers could be for just 1-3 weeks each, or 1 driver for the whole 10-12 weeks, or 2 drivers could do 5-6 weeks each, or some combination like that. I would just need one driver at any one time though.
A small support vehicle, hopefully hybrid or EV, but EV might add too much confusion for finding a charger, so a hybrid (gas-only) would be preferable.
Full, but tentative, itinerary for 2023:
Sunday, June 4 - Vancouver-Mission, BC
Monday, June 5 - Hope
Tuesday, June 6 - Spences Bridge
Wednesday, June 7 - Merritt
Thursday, June 8 - Kamloops
Friday, June 9 - rest day
Saturday, June 10 - Salmon Arm
Sunday, June 11 - Revelstoke
Monday, June 12 - Golden
Tuesday, June 13 - Field
Wednesday, June 14 - Banff/Canmore, AB
Thursday, June 15 - rest day
Friday, June 16 - Cochrane or Calgary
Saturday, June 17 - Beiseker
Sunday, June 18 - Drumheller
Monday, June 19 - Hanna
Tuesday, June 20 - Oyen
Wednesday, June 21 - Kindersley, SK
Thursday, June 22 - Outlook
Friday, June 23 - Elbow
Saturday, June 24 - Moose Jaw
Sunday, June 25 - rest day
Monday, June 26 - Fort Qu'Appelle
Tuesday, June 27 - Melville
Wednesday, June 28 - Binscarth, MB
Thursday, June 29 - Minnedosa
Friday, June 30 - Portage la Prairie
Saturday, July 1 - Ste-Anne
Sunday, July 2 - rest day
Monday, July 3 - Whiteshell
Tuesday, July 4 - Kenora, ON
Wednesday, July 5 - Nestor Falls
Thursday, July 6 - Fort Frances
Friday, July 7 - Atikokan
Saturday, July 8 - Kashabowie
Sunday, July 9 - Thunder Bay
Monday, July 10 - rest day
Tuesday, July 11 - Nipigon
Wednesday, July 12 - Terrace Bay
Thursday, July 13 - Marathon
Friday, July 14 - White River
Saturday, July 15 - Wawa
Sunday, July 16 - rest day
Monday, July 17 - Pancake Bay Prov Park
Tuesday, July 18 - Sault Ste. Marie
Wednesday, July 19 - Thessalon
Thursday, July 20 - Massey
Friday, July 21 - Manitowaning
Saturday, July 22 - Tobermory
Sunday, July 23 - rest day
Monday, July 24 - Owen Sound
Tuesday, July 25 - Collingwood
Wednesday, July 26 - Mount Albert
Thursday, July 27 - Peterborough
Friday, July 28 -
Saturday, July 29 - Godfrey
Sunday, July 30 - Ottawa
Monday, July 31 - rest day
Tuesday, August 1 - Hudson, QC
Wednesday, August 2 - Mont St. Hilaire
Thursday, August 3 - Nicolet
Friday, August 4 - Quebec City
Saturday, August 5 - Riviere Ouelle
Sunday, August 6 - Lac Baker, NB
Monday, August 7 - rest day
Tuesday, August 8 - Grand Falls
Wednesday, August 9 - Woodstock
Thursday, August 10 - Fredericton
Friday, August 11 - Saint John
Saturday, August 12 - Sussex
Sunday, August 13 - rest day
Monday, August 14 - Shediac
Tuesday, August 15 - Cavendish, PEI
Wednesday, August 16 - Merigomish, NS
Thursday, August 17 - St. Peters, Cape Breton
Friday, August 18 - Little Bras D'Or
Saturday, August 19 - Argentia, NL
Sunday, August 20 - St. John's
I will be bicycling across Canada in the summer of 2023 to raise funds and awareness for schizophrenia (that's what I've got) and mental health in developing countries.
I am currently looking for a driver of a support vehicle (hopefully hybrid/EV), or more than one driver for 1-3 weeks each (or 2 drivers of 5-6 weeks each, or other combinations). This is a big ask to find someone willing to drive, I know. It could be partial/all expenses paid and maybe some pay for it too.
If anyone is interested in driving a support vehicle, please reach out to me at info@mindaid.ca or on social media. The sooner this can be nailed down the better. See more below...