Lucas Frost is hiking Teapot Hill daily as a fundraiser for vulnerable youth.
The Chilliwack resident has completed 55 days now and plans to continue until he reaches 100 days of hiking in a row.
“I’m hiking to try and raise money for Cyrus Centre Ministries who just opened a youth homeless shelter in Chilliwack this past year,” Frost said. “They’re doing some incredible work to help alleviate suffering in our community.”
By Wednesday (Feb. 24) he’d raised almost $3,700, which was most encouraging.
Frost named the effort “Frosty FunRaiser Part 2: Electric Boogaloo” posting to Facebook often with “fun facts about nature, less fun facts about homelessness, and medium fun facts about mental health and wellness.”
The emphasis is on fun. Frost wanted folks to know that hiking the winding hillside trail this way significantly helps his own mental health challenges, and if he could incorporate a good cause, all the better.
The Chilliwack homeless count in 2017 they found 221 people without shelter – of which 50 were young people. In 2020 the total number of homeless in Chilliwack had ballooned to 306.
The world he’d like to see isn’t out there yet. He hopes his efforts will get some kids off the streets to this new supportive housing facility with wrap-around support services.
“I’m going to do what I can to make the world a more caring, compassionate, and safe place.”
Chilliwack increasingly has the resources to tackle the problem of youth homelessness, but some are held back by perceptions, he figures.
“Changing someone’s mind is hard, and I can’t force anyone to learn to be compassionate, but I can show them who I am and why these causes are important to me, and if people don’t want to change, they can at least understand the problems facing our community a little better.”
To donate to the FunRaiser
READ MORE: Youth experiencing homelessness get supportive housing
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