After 93 days on the road, and covering more than 9,000 kilometers, Clara Hughes arrived home in Winnipeg. Just in case you hadn’t heard. Clara Hughes, a six-time Olympic Medalist, is cycling the circumference of Canada in her epic journey called Clara’s Big Ride, as the spokesperson for Bell Let’s Talk about mental illness.
Telpay was a proud sponsor of the VIP Room at Manitoba’s Big Social and our very own house band Telpay & the Direct Deposits played. With over 500 people in attendance, including 28 of us from Team Telpay, the social was a big success and fun too. The highlight of the night was meeting Clara. We were all so impressed with Clara’s kindness and her genuine interest in others. She is not only a super hero, but a super human too. Later Clara wowed the crowd with an inspirational and heart-felt message. It was truly a memorable night.
Even better is that an estimated total net income of $23,568.75 was raised through social tickets, t-shirt sales, silence auction and sponsorships. All funds will go into local mental health organizations in Winnipeg.
By sharing her story, Clara inspires more Canadians to share their story too. Since Bell Let’s Talk Day on January 28, #ClaraBigRide and #Bell_LetsTalk has been used more than 1000,000 times and even more impressive are that approximately 75,000 Canadians have attended her events. By finally talking about mental illness we can smash the stigma, offer hope and save lives too. Ride Clara Ride!