Shaun Newman Podcast - #382 - Veterans on Wheels

Episode Date: February 3, 2023

This small group of veterans & spouses originated from an idea while sitting around the camp fire. With Decades of military experience they created Veterans on Wheels which aims to assist, uplift, empower and exalt veterans across Canada. The team includes Tom & Jordyn Murphy, Scott & Shelley Mcpherson & Jamie Gallant. Let me know what you think Text me 587-217-8500 

This is Brian Gitt. This is Ed Latimore. This is Danielle Smith. This is Kristen Nagel. This is Aaron Gunn. This is Vance Crow. This is Quick Dick McDick, and you are listening to the Sean Newman podcast. Welcome to the podcast, folks.

Happy Friday. Hope everybody's week has been flying along. I know I got a ton of feedback from a lot of you on yesterday's episode, The Convoy Update. Me and Two sat down and live streamed it. Listen to it. It was the first time. It was the last day that I interviewed people on the streets off.

Ottawa, and then I never aired it. So we got to hear it for the first time, and if you haven't listened to it, I really suggested it's a time warp. It sends you right back to when those days were going and everything else. Anyways, that was yesterday. It's been an interesting week, and I was hoping I was going to have everything ready to rock for today for releasing. March 18th is going to be the next SMP Presents.

It's going to be Legacy Media. It's going to be in Eminton. I'm just confirming. I'm waiting for the confirmation email of this is the venue. We have Kidd Carson. We have Wayne Peters. And I'm waiting on my third speaker to be confirmed as well. I believe I'll have that answer today, which means by sometime next week, tickets will go on sale.

I'm excited for it. I think it's going to be a fun show. They're all fun shows. but Kidd Carson, Wayne Peters, two guys that I think we'll have some interesting things to say will be a fun. We've got a venue change, right? We're not going to be in Lloyd. We're going to be in Emmington, so that's going to be, well, on this side, a little bit of stress, but exciting as well. So if you're penciling days in of things to do, March 18th is going to be a big day.

I want to also say that we're looking for sponsors on the show. You know, we've had a few step away, which, you know, and hey, that's going to happen. You're never going to, you know, go perfect every year. So if you're a business out there looking or listening and going, hey, I really like to like what Sean's doing and want to support or help it along, there's different options all the way from the Tuesday mashup. We're selling off month by month. Or there's Fridays open here and we'd love to have you apart. All you got to do is shoot me a text. in the show notes, my numbers there, shoot me a text,

and we can talk through some of the options and everything else. Finally, before we get to today's episode, we do have some sponsors. RecTech Power Products for the past 20 years, they've been an industry leader in the Power Sports industry. They offer a full lineup of Canam, Skidu, C2, Spider, Merkery. Oh, man, Evan, why do I, I'm going to have to change this list. You know, every time I get to this point, I butcher it.

And, you know, ever since I changed my policy on restarting everything else. I get to this, I get to Mercury, Evan Rood, Mahindra, Roxxer, and I butcher it. They got a parts department that can hook you up with any upgrades or odds and ends, and they're open Monday through Saturday. And if you haven't been in their facility, just to see some of the products they're selling, you really need to go take a look. Everything from lawnmowers to golf carts to some of the biggest bloody ATVs on the planet. I'm just like, you know, I'm excited for when it gets a little warmer because Alan and Ryan and myself discussed, you know, maybe doing a couple of little demos and having a little bit of fun. And I hope, I hope that comes to fruition because I'd love nothing better than to test out some of their products and try not to kill myself on them because I'm sure I won't do anything silly, but you never know.

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which aims to assist, uplift, empower, and exalt veterans across Canada. I'm talking about Tom and Jordan Murphy, Shelly and Scott McPherson, and Jamie Galant. So buckle up. Here we go. This is Veterans on Wheels, and you're listening to the Sean Newman podcast. Welcome to the Sean Newman podcast. Today I'm joined by Veterans on Wheels. This should be interesting. I was just joking with them that I'll try and keep it on the rails.

I got five people on this in three different spots. So, I mean, first off, I guess, folks, all welcome aboard. I'm excited to have you and hear a little bit about what you are all about. Thank you. Thank you for having you. Now, to the listener, I'm like, I'm staring at this. I'm kind of intimidated. Not that the people are intimidating, but like the sheer amount of people on here is a first for me.

So what we're going to try and do is we're going to try and work our way around the clock. We'll start with Tom and Jordan, then Jamie, and then we'll finish up with Scott and Shelley. just trying to give the listener and myself for that matter a little bit of introduction to a bit of your story and maybe how you even got involved with veterans on wheels and from there we'll see where it goes. So Tom and Jordan, how about we start with you, maybe just a little bit about yourselves and we'll see what we pull out of it. Go ahead.

Okay, so hi, I'm Jordan and Tom and I got married a couple years ago, And we've kind of been on an awesome adventure together. So this year, we were going across the country, and we realized that there's a lot of veterans that we both know and don't know, like falling through the cracks of just our system, I guess. They just needed help from each other that they weren't getting. And then these guys too, they're in the group, are veterans. Like Scott, Tom, and Jamie are veterans.

And them being together on that trip was amazing for them and their mental health and everything. So we came up with an idea to continue to travel together and be together, but meet other veterans and hopefully do whatever we could for them too. You went across Canada? Is that what I heard? Mm-hmm. What prompted going across Canada? So our friend was protesting and he was marching across the country and we joined him.

Was this a guy named Mr. Topp? I'm seeing head nods. Yeah. Yes, it was born officer James Topp. He's still dealing with the complications of his court martial. So we don't want to talk too much about... Sure. No, no, no. We don't need to get deep into it for the listener.

James has been on the show. We interviewed him as he crossed. I think he just crossed out of Saskatchewan, if memory serves me correct, and the deep snow and everything else, because that man was an absolute machine. No, not at all. So what was it about then going across Canada that really...

Like, what did you see? And I feel like I'll probably ask this amongst all... all groups here. But, you know, what sticks out about that experience then? You know, you mentioned seeing maybe some of the things that have slipped through the cracks and that type of thing. Was there anything in particular like, man, we really need to do something about this that really sticks out? Absolutely. I mean, we could talk probably an entire podcast just on that specific topic alone. But I think, and it's probably the reason why we're here together doing this today.

I think it's because we really realized how many veterans are just forgotten about. Our system isn't really fully supporting all the veterans across our country. There's neglect everywhere we look.

So when we realize that we certainly, you know, this all started around a campfire at the end of a day and just discussion about what we could do and how we could do it. And Jordan came up with the idea, you know, we'd like to travel, but we want to do a veteran support group or a retreat or something of the sorts.

And she was able to put together this idea, just kind of, you know, why don't we hit the road and help veterans, whether it be retreats or individuals themselves from all ranges. But majority or our mission is to improve quality of life. Gotcha. And just one final thought for you two. Tom, you're still active in the military then? No, I got out April 1st, 2021. So coming up on two years. And how many years did you serve in the military, if you don't mind me asking? I got a military roundtable of weird, not strange things, coming up on the 26th with a couple military guys from around the area. And, you know, I'm sure there'll be curious. Yeah, for sure. I served five years. I spent a majority of my time with the relocating dragoons out of Petta Wawa in the Armour Court. But I did spend one year, and Scott won't

like this, but I did spend one year with one RCR on deployment to Opry Assurance and Lafia. Scott's a two PBCLI guy, so a little bit of a wrap. It's funny, on this side, I never served in any military, and I just see everybody light up when all the guys you've served in military, even their wives are like laughing. Like, it's an inside joke. I'm sure there's a little bit of teasing that happens amongst all of you. Let's enter in Jamie. Jamie, how about you give a little bit to the audience about who you are and then if you want,

how you got involved, obviously meeting up along the road here in Canada, but if there's more to it, by all means. Yeah, absolutely. So I served eight years in the Canadian Armed Forces. forces from 2006 to 2014. I was deployed in Afghanistan, September 2008 to April 2009. I was there for seven months. Came back.

I was later medically released in 2014. And then we got involved. Same thing. James Top and I actually served in Afghanistan together. He was a part of Recky platoon with 3RCR. He was attached to my squadron, armored Recky squadron with the Royal Canadian Dragoons. And I spent my entire career with the dragoons. And I've been out.

I met up with James when he hit a little bit outside Deep River and stayed with the team for the entire journey into Ottawa and then from Newfoundland all the way back to Ontario. we just really connected and bonded real well together as a team. We were able to just through high-tempo work together and just get the job done. And obviously that carries on with what we've started doing with Vow and working with helping these veterans. We helped a magnificent man named Jan and did some work on his house and just the teamwork and effort. and just right to the point to the mission,

get the job done quickly, efficiently. And it's just, it's really, really uplifting to work with a team of people that are that committed and determined to get the job done. That's, that's, it's community, there's something special about community service. Uh, when you, um, you know,

give yourself over to the betterment of other people. There's something really special about that. and I'm sure you can all talk about it because you're all actively doing it. When you meet up with James, just walking the road, was there anything, I got to walk with a man that was, had dealt with depression and different things like that. So he walked from Saskatoon to Lloyd. Actually, it was funny. He literally just text me out of the blue before I got out of here. There was something really cool about being on the highway with not only him, but the group of people that started walking.

This would have been under a little bit different circumstances, certainly a little more media focus maybe on it. But the experience of being on the road and walking it and everything else, I assume was something special. I was wondering for the audience, you know, that's something I never got to participate in, and a lot of Canadians never did. We saw updates and everything else.

from your vantage point of walking and being a part of that, is there anything you can share from being on the road with them? Well, it's basically like a tour in the military, like being deployed. Everybody has their kind of specific jobs, and you depend on each other to get the job done. Nobody has to say, hey, can you do that? Can you do this?

everybody knows what needs to be done and we just do it. And it's really a bond. You can't, you know, you can only build a bond like that through really specific situations, in my opinion. None of us knew each other either prior. So it was,

you know, all these different paths colliding into one. And the cohesion, And it was like once in a lifetime opportunity to work within a group like that. I don't know. It's real cool. That is cool. That is cool.

You never know where, you know, I say this lots now. You never know what any day is going to present and what opportunities are going to happen out of said day. And when you go on an adventure like that, I mean, look at what's come out of it. That's really cool. Which brings me obviously to Scott and Shelley. You know, what led you to the road? And what maybe does the audience need to know about you two fine individuals? Okay.

Well, Jordan's idea led us to the road. We loved it, heard about it, wanted to do it. And it was actually Scott, I think, that came up with the name Veterans on Wheels and Thou as the acronym. And I think, I don't know if we all feel the same way, but I think that Scott and I were very, very inspired by a dear friend of ours that we lost along the way during that trip as it is Tyson Bowen and we had been at his house for five days he's a veteran who was suffering and uh the day after we left he had um on himself and it was quite an experience and i think that was quite inspiring for us to want to keep going just to try and help as many people that we could

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I'm not going to put words in anyone's mouth, so I'll just, I'll go from my vantage point. Through the longest parts of the last couple years, there was times where I thought I was alone, you know, and the amount of depression, you know,

I got married, I got the young little kids, and there was times where you're just like, I might be the, you know, and so you never know what one conversation can really do or mean to a person, even kind words for that matter, right? just to change their mindset on a given day that has real big, big impacts. I assume all of you know exactly that because now you're starting down this road. What you're doing for people, they'll probably never ever be able to repay,

not that you need that, but certainly you're going to pull people out of probably some dark spots, I would assume. Scott, how many years did you serve in the military, just to round out the military? aspect of this. So just shy of 10. Some of that was with the Canadian, or sorry the Canadian, the Cape Breton Highlanders, and then

about six years with the Patricias out of Winnipeg. Oh, the Patricias. It's funny. You mentioned the Patricias. Two of them are coming to town on the 26, so I don't know. What years did you serve if you don't mind me asking? 89 to 95.

Ninth news. Oh, with Patricis. With the Patricis, yeah. With the perjured. Does a guy buy the name? Now, why am I forgetting this, folks? This is terrible. This is, you know, this is what makes a show a show is when Sean can't remember his lines, you know?

And, oh, now Jamie's going to be mad at me when he comes, but Jamie Sinclair, does that name ring a bell to you? Amy Sinclair. Oh, see, I'm putting them on the spot now. I know the Sinclair name, but I can't put a face to it. It's funny. Or Chuck Prodnick is the other one that comes to mind. of them were I believe in the Patricia's geez now now it maybe I'm complaining none of them matters I always find the hockey world is small I come

from as you can see on the wall a hockey world is a small world and it's funny how close you can how far you can go but still be close to people you know and military especially in Canada seems like it's very similar I was curious whether whoever from this point on I hope we can just have a little bit discussion feel free to jump in whenever you want When a hockey player, I was explaining this earlier today on a different podcast, when I came back from hockey, I'd had, like hockey was like, this is what you do. You have a path, you follow it, you know exactly what you're supposed to be doing relatively. I mean, obviously getting cut, traded, et cetera.

But then when you retire, you know, like they say, oh, you can do whatever you want. And I'm like, oh, yeah, I can do whatever I want. Well, that's like terrifying. I was wondering for all of you, now that you can do whatever you want, and certainly for, it's been different time frames for each and every one of you. How much did you miss the camaraderie of being like when you all ran into it on the road? Because, you know, if there's one thing that ties all of you together, it's that you've all experienced that at different points in your life.

And that is a very, very special thing. So I assume, well, I assume lots of things. I don't know. Hop in wherever you like. Yeah. Sorry, go ahead, Tom. Okay, thanks, Scott. Yeah, for me, it was pretty fresh for me.

I just recently got out and gotten out of the military. So it was something that I hadn't really fully digested yet or gotten to the point where I could reflect back and miss it. I was still in contact with a lot of the guys. I still live pretty locally to Petawawa. But I knew what camaraderie was all about. And that was one of the reasons. I thoroughly enjoyed the military.

What was because of that aspect? There's something about, I don't know, just spending your, you know, the things you go through with someone, the environments you live in, you know, the training you do, sometimes the real combat you do, whatever it may be, there's that bond there that's formed. As you know in the sports world, it's very much the same.

But yeah, for me, that's what, you know, the time that we've spent on the road, it seems to go by so quickly just because of how much enjoyment there is. And Scott, you were about to pipe in. What were your thoughts? I think the flip side of the same coin that Tom mentioned, like,

I've been out a long time and still have lifelong friends from the time I was in, but getting on the road with these guys, just the camaraderie and stuff, wow, I treasured it daily. I could probably add to that a little bit because Scott struggles with PTSD a lot. And being on the road with these guys and being around other veterans was like super healing for him. There's some level of confidence that comes in with that.

A level like, and I think I can give an example from Kingston. So normally, like, some of the issues, let's say, with PTSD would be, like, hypervigilance. So going to a busy place is a tough thing to do because you're not enjoying yourself at all. Like, for him and I to go anywhere busy, he's hypervigilant the entire time, so he's not enjoying himself. But what we found on the road, I think Jordan and I discussed this a few times on the road, is, like, we're sitting down, like, normally in a restaurant, he's got to have his back to the wall so he can relax. a little bit or whatever. He would just go in and sit down anywhere at the table.

And it took us a while to sort of figure it out. That's because there's another guy sitting over there that you know has your back. Another one's sitting over there that you know has your back. It's just in so many ways it's so healing. It's so healing. I think that, sorry, Sean, I just want to say, I think that, you know, everyone says to us like, oh, it's so amazing what you guys are doing for all these people. But at the same time, really, it's just as amazing for us.

us. Like the ego aspect of it is it's a really selfish thing we're doing because we enjoy it so much. But in reality, it helps both sides. I mean, we get to help our emotions, help our feelings, help grow and work through some things. But at the same time, we're also helping other veterans do the same thing. Well, in a weird way, I understand, like, not the, sorry, folks, I'm the restaurant thing. I have friends who do the, they have to have their back. So I understand what you're talking about.

I was going to say in a weird way, the podcast has been that for me. Lots of people have told me that I was their lifeline or different things through some of the darkest times because I was still, you know, a light on, so to speak, of like having some conversations

that made sense to them and everything. But the selfish thing was, is I got as much, if not more out of the experience than they did because I just needed did just as much as they did, maybe more so. And that's why you kept, kept moving on with it. You know, I assume Jordan, Shelley, like, having that moment where you're like, what is going on here? They have been, they have been strange for a long time. And now they're acting like this.

This is something we have to try and facilitate over and over again, because this feels, I'm going to use the word normal, but you know what I, I hope you know what I mean. Yeah, when these guys, sorry, Shelley, when these guys were together in a group and there's like a big meet and greet or something and you can see them all standing and scanning and they're all like doing this job they know how to do and they're doing it together. And Shelley and I talked about it so many times. We just sit there and smile because we felt super safe all the time. Like there was nothing to feel unsafe about, but we just feel extra safe all the time. And like, I think this is why me and her are so happy go lucky all the time. We're never thinking about who's going to walk in the door anywhere.

Like, we never have to care. Yeah, right? Because these guys do. So, like, when, so I came up with this idea for Val because a couple reasons. The veterans just, like, need to be together and need each other for help. I don't know how to help these guys because I have no idea what they've actually been through. And these guys do know. So I also selfishly came up with this idea because our time together was going to come to an end and I didn't want it to.

And we all live on like way far apart and I was like, no, I don't want to go home. I actually when we did get home before we really started with BOW, I had a hard time sleeping. I just, because I wasn't going to wake up and see these guys and I have just become so used to. Like really, like, holding on to that I was with everybody. And it was just, like, perfect, just how it was. It was so comfortable and perfect. And it was like, I know after when we did go home before we went to Kingston, like Scott crashed really hard.

And going to Kingston, he came right back to life. Like, so Kingston, just so you know, or maybe your listeners, if they don't know who we are. We were contacted by the daughter of a World War II veteran. He's also twice P-O-W. And we were contacted that he had had, they had some water issues in the bathroom. He was still living at home.

He was 99 years old. And some contractor came in and left him basically with a hole in the floor and took off. So she contacted us to see if we could do anything. and the community of Kingston was amazing. They came in and they paid for supplies. They paid for every single thing, including our gas to get there and stuff, hotels, food.

We had a party for him and everything and got that. We were there for, I think, five days, eh? Four or five in a night? Yeah. Or we might have been five. You guys came up four days. I think you guys were the day by this, yeah. And just went in and got the job done

and had an amazing time with his veteran and got to like build. a great relationship with him and within his community. And when we left there, we had people going there for coffee dates and stuff. So he had people coming to his house, which made him very happy. More importantly than going there and fixing his floor was the way we were able to keep him set up with people caring for him after. I think that was pretty special. Well, the thing that jumps to my mind, and this doesn't need to go anywhere else,

but just to percolate into the atmosphere as an idea, is I was fortunate enough on episode 18 of this thing years ago to interview a World War II vet, Cy Campbell. Geez, if I haven't said his name like a bazillion times in the last week, he was sharp as attack, talked about a lot of stuff that I had no clue about. And when I hear you say you go to World War II vet, his house, and fix a bunch of things. My immediate thought is somebody should be interviewing this guy immediately. You're into a world where there's just all those memories, ideas, traditions, I can, stories,

the list just goes on. They're just fading, like really fast. And they're really, really important. And if a person has the ability to still talk and explain what they went through, whether, it's one of you find folks or somebody else we should be doing our utmost to try and capture that story because um chances are you know whether he lives another 10 years 20 years or two days it's it's closer to the end in the beginning it's a sad thought but I'm like holy crap a world war two vet like the only one I've ever been able to brush shoulders with I still talk about about 350 episodes later and I still tell people to go back and listen to it and it's just as good then as it is today because of what he's talking about and you folks got to experience that like

that's i'm just like i almost got goosebumps thinking about it was it was actually it's actually one of his wishes was to have his story told and be known and put uh worthing in worthington park the area of kinksn where he lived he wanted to make that place known and and put it on the map so part of while we were did we were down there um we got his story from his daughter and we we shared that story on our Facebook page and stuff for everybody to to watch or to read and go through and then the news every news agency that picked up the story and stuff they shared his story as well so we really got to help him pursue some of his his three final wishes in life yeah she wrote a book on him and we used it was I think it was

only about 12 pages, but wrote his story and published a book. And we used that with the social media. And I think there was 33 newspapers that picked up the story and global news and a couple others. So his story got told from that perspective. That's, that's really cool. I mean, for the younger generations, and I consider myself one of those, I mean, obviously there's younger, But I'm like, those stories are so important. So very, very, very important. You know, as we roll along here, I'm like, I should have asked this right off the hop. You know, what is Val?

Like, what is veterans on wheels so that the audience probably has a better understanding of what you five individuals are trying to do, accomplish, et cetera? We want to take it away? Sure. Sure. And we can answer it or anything or whatever, but yeah, go for it. Okay, so bow veterans on wheels. Our goal is to be Boots on the Ground support for veterans and veteran retreat,

along with helping in any sort of natural disaster aid. So like the disaster that happened in the late summer in Newfoundland with the flooding or the fires earlier in the summer, that sort of thing. But when it comes to veteran retreats, what we found we were actually fortunate enough, like Shelley said, we were able to state a few of them, and we were able to determine, you know, they do have funding, which is great, but there's always projects that have to be done,

and there's always something more that can be done. So a lot of them, you know, want to build their facilities and create more activities for the veteran to do while they're there, whether it be an outdoor kitchen or a garden or, you know, whatever it may be, walking trails, or when it comes to an individual veteran, maybe something like they haven't been set up with veteran affairs yet, or maybe they need a new floor or a new washing machine, or maybe they just need someone to talk to. So we want to bring boots on the ground support

to veterans and veteran retreats. Can I add to that a little bit? Absolutely. Okay. So, like, for the veterans retreats. for example. It's a safe place for veterans to go, but a lot of them, they need more awareness in their communities that they're there. So when we're there, if we can advertise and bring,

even like, let's say, for example, we went to a retreat that had a project. We can invite veterans from the community to come join. And then maybe even by the end of the week, if we book off a week there to help them build whatever it is they need help with. At the end of the week, we say, like, come for, Come on Friday night, let's hang out around the fire.

And then like, hey, we're not going to be here next week, but you guys should come hang out at this retreat next Friday or something. Kind of give them a spot, a safe spot to go do. I think, yeah, something like that. What's really cool, but a lot of these, well, actually pretty much everyone that I know or have been to, is free for veterans and their families. And they have a range of activities, and they're all kind of specific in their own way. but, you know, they range from quads or trails or fishing, hunting, camping, a lot of outdoor activities.

And they're usually pretty remote, so you don't have the hustle and bustle of the city. If you just want to get away to, you know, to nature. I assume all five of you are like working full-time. and then doing this on the side. Am I right in that assumption? No. No. No, George.

I'm telling us not a jobless bum on you guys. Well, no, but these guys are all retired. Okay. These guys are like blessed. They're retired and they're able to do this a little bit more full time than me. When we got back from being on the road for a long time, I needed to work just to, like, you know, we've made some good decisions with not,

having a life that costs us a lot of money, so we don't need a lot of money. So I'm able to just work full-time and we're still able to focus on about quite a bit. So then is your hope that you do, do you have like, I don't know, like, do you want to be doing a project once a month? Well, once, is it faster, slower, somewhere in between? What our kind of goal is is because we're doing it with campers and traveling, we kind of And we're working on it right now, is to have a calendar. And let's say this year, for example, we go from Ontario to the east.

And we've already got quite a few filled in on our calendar. And so we travel along and go to this location, that location. Like we have, right now we have a couple of resorts, or retreats, I should say, in Ontario. We have a fellow that needs help getting his van adapted. And Jamie and Scott are both mechanics. So they're going to be able to help with that. We've got... Another gentleman in Kingston reached out.

Oh, yeah, we have... Our first project, we'll probably be back in Kingston again. Then we also have another fellow there that... About that outside shed. So we have, like... So let's say, for example, in Ontario, we'll just travel smart. We'll go to each location, spend a week or two there,

whatever is required, and then take a few days off for ourselves, and then go forward to the next one. And just keep traveling. So we can really only do it mostly in the... camper-friendly months. Gotcha. So you're looking for, I don't know, it depends on what the weather does for us up here in the Great White North, but somewhere between, let's just say, May to, let's say, September, kind of idea. Probably later, and probably, like, for East Coast, you can go pretty much October or November even in the East Coast.

So we could go later in that direction. But, yeah, yeah. How about if people are listening to this and they're like, oh, like, wow, maybe they know somebody that could use some help. Maybe they want to financially support or offer, I mean, the list is probably endless. What do you suggest for people that are interested in what you're doing? Either they want to help, they think of somebody, they have someone. What has been working for you folks? Or what do you suggest on how they do that and probably work? can they find you?

Yeah, so you can, for any info, or if you have a veteran that you know of, or if you're a veteran yourself, or a retreat, and you're looking for help, do not hesitate, and you can always email us at Veterans on Wheels at Protonmail.com. To follow our story, you can find us more on Facebook and Instagram. You can go back there and look through our history. So we've done a few, well, most of our jobs have actually been, since we've gotten home and we actually haven't been traveling to do them. They've been more of in local jobs.

So we're kind of spread out from basically Ottawa to Cape Breton at the moment. And so, you know, Scott and Shelley have done a few jobs there. We've done a few jobs here locally. So it kind of does very, we don't necessarily need to be on the road, but you could follow our story along there on Facebook at Veterans on Wheels as well. We do have a give send goal for set out for veterans on wheels as well. We also have a couple new fundraiser ideas coming up that might be kind of fun. One of them is going to be just a raffle thing.

And the other one is, should I try to explain this on here? Do you guys know what I'm talking about, that other idea that Brett had? My son, Brett, had a really cool idea for us, that we're really entertaining. So, for example, let's say we have teams of five. And we were just going to have them each as a different army base, each team. So you register as a team of five. If you don't have a team, you can register as a solo and we mix you up with a team. And then there'll be a set price on entry fees.

So I don't know what it'll be. Like, for example, let's say it's $100 a person, so $500 a team. And we do a live stream that night. And we can interview some of the people we've had along the way. We can also interview a lot of the volunteers because we've had some amazing volunteers along the way and do a live stream for a couple hours and what you do is you kind of pull the first one out

and if you lose that member off your team they go to the medic. Last Man Standing wins 50-50 with Vow and whoever's last, yeah, the winner. So we're looking at doing something like that too. Well, it sounds like you guys have endless possibilities of having a little bit of fun. I sit here and go, are there going to be non-civilians allowed in this thing?

Because, I mean, I'm just saying. I don't know. I might be the first guy of the medic, but I'm like, I don't know. If I can make sense of there. Yeah, before I let you guys out of here, you know, I got to know, every great idea starts at an inception point. I think you mentioned it was Jordan's idea, but it was a campfire kind of conversation chat.

And those are like special moments. We're like, oh, yeah, that's a pretty good idea. And you want to do that? Yeah, maybe we could. And then, you know, it starts to blossom, whatever. And I mean, it's still early days. But, you know, if a guy were to look back in 10 years and now you guys have been doing it for 10 years, how would you remember the campfire chat?

And I'm going to start with Jamie because he's been a little bit quiet here. And I'm just curious everybody's thoughts on it because to me, I'm curious, you know, how this idea kind of percolates to the surface of, hey, let's start touring around during the summer months and helping people. Well, when you, I always find when you have a really good idea or something that just spits up where you know like, okay, we got to do that or something along those lines. When you hear it, you know, you've got, when you hear it, you're like, yeah, okay, I've got to, we've got to pursue this. we've got to do this. And like, just sit around the campfire was,

we were talking and shooting these ideas back and forth and with names and how are we going to do this. And that, and it was fairly easy because Canada Marches, we traveled, usually with campers and we had the RV and stuff like that. So we already had kind of a practice of maneuvering as a group. So a lot of that experience, we were able to take so things just kind of fit together real well and it's to come from just sitting around at the end of the day relaxing after marching 40k that day and just hey let's do this guys like it's pretty it's pretty

unreal feeling how about scott and shelley you you uh you roll up to the campfire that night No idea this is going to come, I assume. What do you recall of the conversation of sitting around and this idea being thrown out? Well, I was the last one to find out because they had already all figured it out. And I was just walking into my camper. They were hanging out beside it and they're like, oh, Shalene, we got this really great idea. I'm like, okay. And then they spilled it out and it was like, holy crap.

That's a great idea. We've got to do this. So that was my memory of it. and for me it was just like holy crap we have to do this I don't know how we're going to do it but let's just do it well that leads me finally then Tom and Jordan I mean at what point George Tom does Jordan decide like hey I think I have something we can do here and you know I don't know

like once again it's it's a fun little experiment to look back on at least for me because I wasn't there so I'm just curious you know you got people with something that they're like this is something we have to do I don't know walk us through it can I answer? So Tom came up with wanting to do a veteran retreat at our house

and I thought that was awesome but then I thought like well no like then we're just at our house and we're not with these guys so we're driving our 1979 camper van that we used for this entire adventure and I'm driving and I'm like, you know what, babe, like, maybe we could continue to travel and do this and go to other people's retreats and help them build up theirs. And then that kind of spiraled into like helping

just anybody who needs it. But, um, and then, so I came up with the idea. This is like during the day, hours before. And then I'm not at this campfire. I was like stewing dishes or something. And I come out to this campfire and everybody was like, we're doing it. And like, it was so nice because I wasn't thinking much of it. Like, we don't have to do this right the second, but it was

so great that he had told everybody and everybody was already before I even got out there. So it was really cool. Brilliant. You know, it's always good to see people laughing and smiling. I, I, I,

I was saying, well, I talk about this a lot, on the podcast, it's really easy to focus on the negative. And to kind of get sunk into that, you know, we've all gone through a lot of different things. We all have our stories. But to see a group of people come together with the, I've been using the term net positive lately, so I'll stick with it. But net positive for society, trying to do things that actually build us up instead of break us down is really cool to see.

And I appreciate you guys coming on and doing this. Is there's anything else before I let you out of here that I've glazed over? Because certainly I laugh. This feels like a really interesting experiment of juggling five people and trying to make sure everybody's talking. And then I'm like, there's just no way I can possibly do this as I sit and watch. But everybody seems like they're having a good time. I hope the listeners enjoy it. Before I let you out of here, is there anything you want to make sure people know, anything I missed through the story?

Or you want to make sure it gets shared because we do have time. Yes, Scott. Well, I just want to be clear that we're starting with veterans. And what my dream is, and I think everybody involved, our dream would be probably the same, is that we're leaving behind stronger communities. And that people within the community that reached out or stepped up to help, pardon me, we'll just identify anybody in the community that needs a helping hand. and the more people you have that will help,

the less work one individual has to do themselves. So I'm hoping it's contagious and catches on. And it's showing that already. Yeah. And in our little bit that we've been able to do already, it's worked out that way. To touch on that too, like, one thing we learn in the military

right from early days of basic training is, like you said, seeing everybody who's a net, positive attitude or whatever. Moral is contagious. So if you have a couple of troops who have really bad morale, they're down in the dumps,

whatever, being in a troop or platoon or whatever with other guys, that morale can cripple. It can spread like cancer and it can cripple. And it's a lot of, I think, what we've seen in society. So being able to go and again, like Scott said,

bring these communities, vet together and leave a stronger place after we've left where people, again, like, don't have to be a veteran to step up and do something for one another and leave this place in a better position where we came in before we came into it. And hopefully that will be contagious and other people will pick it up and carry on down the line. I personally think it is extremely contagious. I used to say, I haven't said it a long time, but positivity spreads just as quickly as negativity, and you decide.

And you folks have decided to certainly do it through positivity and spreading it that way. It's funny what one act of kindness can spiral out into the world, you know, as simple as little acts of kindness when... I said this kind of off the start, I think, but, like, you know, it can be as simple as holding out of door for someone who's just having a rough day and you can see it, you know, and they just need a smile and it just instantly, it's mirroring, right?

You just start to do that. Anyways, I get caught off on tangents. I think what you're doing is wonderful. I hope someday I can be in your neighborhood because it'd be cool to sit around a campfire style podcast, if you would, where everybody had a mic, and it didn't have to be so. So it's funny, me being the host, I, I just, it's not awkward, it's been a fantastic conversation. But there is something about a number unless you're all in the same, you know, around the same group. And the next time we do this, we're going to do it hopefully in person so that everyone can have a mic in front of them and have their way with it.

Because obviously to commit to something like this like you five have, there's a whole lot more to the story. that is probably easier done in person. But I appreciate you guys giving me some time today and sharing a little bit about it. I hope we did it justice and people reach out and try and help you guys along the way as you continue on doing a lot of wonderful things for the communities across Canada.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Can I add in one just thing that I think as veterans on wheels, that I just wanted to give a little name recognition to a businessman in Kingston who's really helped catapult us and given us a lot of great direction and stuff. His name is John Armitage,

and he's really been very beneficial to us. I just wanted to say, like, thank you to him and anybody who can go to our YouTube, Rumble, Instagram, or Facebook, just look up Veterans on Wheels. Cool. Well, thanks, guys. I appreciate you doing this and making a little bit of time for me and aligning everyone's schedule to make this work.

is, you know, this is aligning on steroids, you know, when you get this many people that call. But I appreciate it. And look forward to someday down the road, wherever it is, cross and paths with you all and seeing it firsthand. Thank you, John. Thank you, John. Thank you, John. Love you, guys. Love you.