What to know
- Trevaun Douglas will walk 400km from Toronto to Ottawa to raise $250,000 for youth mentorship.
- The 16-week program, “What My Parents Didn’t Teach Me,” will cover life skills, self-defence, financial literacy, and more.
- Douglas was inspired by his own challenges growing up in Lawrence Heights, and past walks for his community.
- The journey begins August 29, with Douglas and four friends walking up to 15 hours each day.
In just a few weeks, local man Trevaun Douglas will lace up his sneakers and trek 400 kilometres from Toronto to Ottawa, determined to raise $250,000 for a 16-week youth mentorship program in Lawrence Heights called “What My Parents Didn’t Teach Me.”
Trevaun Douglas is a youth leader in the Lawrence Heights area who aims to give back to his community after they helped him during a difficult period in his childhood.
“When I was 12 years old, I was given an opportunity to help give back to my community as a youth outreach worker. At that same time, in grade seven, a gang tried to recruit me,” Douglas told Now Toronto.
Leaning into the opportunity presented by the outreach program led Douglas to develop a passion for giving back. Now an adult, he encourages the community to give youth chances to succeed, reflecting that if he hadn’t gotten the youth outreach worker opportunity, he might’ve gone down the wrong path.
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So, in 2023, he started doing walks to help those around him.
For instance, in December 2023, Douglas wanted to gift kids for Christmas and decided to jog from Yorkdale Mall to the CN Tower to raise funds.
“I got my neighbour; he dressed up as the Grinch, and I dressed up as Santa,” he said.
Then for Mother’s Day, he honoured his mom, who raised him by herself and community members who helped him during rough patches, Douglas set about a walk to give back to moms.
“A lot of the opportunities I had in my life came from women… And growing up in a single-parent household, I said, ‘Yo, I really want to do something for women,’” he explained.
So, Douglas walked from Yorkdale Mall and to downtown Toronto.
This time, he also walked with a 55-pound weighted vest and raised enough money to bring 10 mothers to a spa.
This also isn’t the first time he’s given back to Lawrence Heights. In the summer of 2024, Douglas decided to walk from Lawrence Heights to Niagara Falls.
“A lot of people were struggling financially. There’s a lot of job insecurity, food insecurity,” he explained.
So, he hosted a walk to raise funds to lift the burden off community members.
The walk from Toronto to Ottawa
But Douglas’ fundraising journey isn’t over yet. On Aug. 29, he’s walking 400km from Toronto to Ottawa to create a 16-week pilot program that teaches kids useful life skills.
The walk will begin at Yorkdale Mall and will end at Ottawa’s Parliament buildings.
Alongside four friends, he will walk 60-66 kilometres in around 13-15 hours a day, until they complete their journeys.
“This is very extreme, you know. But I also want to show the youth that they can accomplish anything they put their minds to. This will not be easy, but it will be worth it,” he said.
The program will teach kids about swimming/water safety, self-defence, auto mechanics, financial literacy, nutrition, entrepreneurship and creative arts.
Why $250,000?
To create this pilot, Douglas is fundraising for $250,000. The money will go towards teaching youth life skills and safety tips, hiring program support workers, paying for youth trips, seasonal and cultural events, creating program scholarships, youth employment programming, a breakfast program, and more.
Douglas himself didn’t grow up knowing life skills like how to swim or change a tire, and he hopes that this program will teach others what he once didn’t know.
“When I was growing up, there weren’t a lot of the opportunities that we have now,” he shared.
“I don’t know how to swim, and I need to learn because on occasion, I go to Centre Island. What if you tip over on the ship and fall over? Or you go to a pool party?” he questioned.
Douglas shared that self-defence classes will help youth defend themselves, and that boxing and Muay Thai are arts that instill discipline and to help participants better regulate their emotions, preventing emotional outbursts that could turn into fights.
He shared that this work has helped him through a rough spot in his life, one where he gained a lot of weight, struggled with insecurity around his body, and experienced the loss of multiple community members. “When you are in a dark time, there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel… It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” Douglas said.
