A NOTE FROM MARK CULLEN

Canada: A Better Place

Funding announcement from the Government of Ontario

Being in Trenton and the City of Quinte West always causes reflection for all of us involved in our campaign. As we continue to make progress toward our goal of planting 2 million trees to honour Canadians who died in war and for each Canadian that volunteered for military service during times of war, our visits to CFB Trenton are transcendental.

CFB Trenton: the genesis of the Highway of Heroes, where all Canadians lost to the Afghan Conflict were repatriated. 

On Thursday, July 30th, the Highway of Heroes Tree Campaign team made our way to CFB Trenton to celebrate the announcement of a $1 million commitment to the campaign from the Province of Ontario through the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.

We were joined by Mayor Harrison and local MPP and Minister, Todd Smith, whose endorsement over the years and continued presence at our events in Trenton have certainly meant a lot. And Minister Mulroney, whom we cannot thank enough as our vision just would not be possible without the special relationship we have with the Ministry of Transportation.

I would also like to thank our Board of Directors:

Donna Cansfield, previous minister of Natural Resources and MTO.  A motivated and dedicated friend of our campaign. Michael dePencier, Founder of Toronto Life, publisher, member of the Order of Ontario, Order of Canada, a man of words, trees and ideas extraordinaire. And Tony DiGiovanni, the Executive Director of Landscape Ontario, a shepherd and coach, and the person who hatched the original idea of planting trees on the Highway of Heroes. To all three of you: thank you for your generosity, commitment, faith and leadership.

To our staff, Executive Director, Mike Hurley; Fundraising & Community Engagement Specialist, Rebecca Harrison; Operations Manager and MTO Tree Steward, David Turnbull; Tree Planting Stewardship Manager, April Stevenson; and to Ali Zuccato, our Project Coordinator. You are an amazing team. 

We chose to plant trees along the 401 to make Canada a better place.

The 401 is the most travelled highway in all of North America. 400,000 cars a day. Up to 16 lanes wide. Planting trees along this route puts the trees closest to where they’re needed to offset the pollution caused by vehicles that use it.  It also puts them in a place where many Ontarians and Canadians can see them, be inspired by them and be reminded of the service and sacrifice of those who did serve and continue to serve in the Armed Forces.

Trees are a huge benefit to all of us. 

They filter toxins out of our air and water, provide habitat to our diverse wildlife, and they improve the infrastructure of our roadways. They act as natural wind and snow breaks, absorb storm water, and help slow the erosion of our roads. These trees are making this highway safer.

The Highway of Heroes Tree Campaign means that this highway is no longer simply a highway corridor: it will serve as a book serves, by telling our stories of service, honour and sacrifice. Each tree tells its own story and you can read them on our Wall of Remembrance on our website at https://hohtribute.ca/wall-of-remembrance.

Since we launched our campaign and planted that first symbolic tree at CFB Trenton, we have now planted almost 750,000 trees, including over 50,000 directly on the Highway of Heroes.

This past spring, we had to postpone our public community tree planting events due to the COVID-19 outbreak. It was a sad but necessary decision as public events bring our campaign to life in each community along the Highway of Heroes. Veterans, currently serving members of the Armed Forces, military families and civilian volunteers joining forces to help plant memorial trees. These plantings are our best chance to forge many of the special relationships we have today.

One such relationship is with Silver Cross Parents Barbara and Ron Johnson. We have had the pleasure of Barbara & Ron joining us at two Highway of Heroes Tree Campaign events. Participation means a lot to them.  Attending our public plantings, in jeans and work boots, were their way of honouring their son, Private Andrew Johnson.

Andrew was killed in an accident while on leave during a deployment to Bosnia on a Peacekeeping mission, but not before making a substantial contribution in his service. During his time in the Army, Private Johnson served with the Royal Canadian Regiment and received multiple citations, including the Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal, Non-Article 5 NATO Medal for Operations in the Balkans, and the Sacrifice Medal.

Meeting Barbara and Ron has been truly inspiring, and I am so proud that they were able to join us at the announcement.

Another relationship we have forged through being active in the communities that the Highway of Heroes ties together is with now retired Master Corporal Trevor Vautour. Master Corporal Vautour served his country for almost 15 years, from 2004-2019, where he completed 2 tours of duty in Afghanistan and 1 in Africa. During this time, he worked multiple jobs within the military, starting out as an infantryman and moving to Special Forces Operations in 2008.

In September 2014, he was significantly injured while on tour and was awarded the Sacrifice Medal for being wounded under honourable circumstances. He participated in the 2019 Warrior Games after years of rehabilitation, proving to himself and those in a similar circumstance that, with the right support and determination, you can re-light your fire and adapt to your circumstances.

And now, Trevor has transitioned from serving his country, to serving his province as Provincial Constable for the Ontario Provincial Police, based in Quinte West.

We had the special pleasure of having Master Corporal Vautour as one of our volunteer guests at a community tree planting event last spring and I am absolutely delighted he could join us once again at the funding announcement.

With sincere thanks to the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario, to Minister Mulroney, to Premier Doug Ford and the Government of Ontario: thank you for helping to make the Highway of Heroes Tree Campaign a reality.

The great Man of Trees, Richard St. Barbe Baker once said, “Can the scars of the earth and the scars of peoples heart be healed by tree planting?”

We think that this new, substantial commitment of $1 million to the Highway of Heroes Tree Campaign is evidence that they can. 

Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 restrictions, we were unable to open this monumental event up to the public; however, The Belleville Intelligencer published a great article shortly after the event with lots of great quotes from all of the speakers. Feel free to give it a read here.

With thanks to all Canadians who have supported us.

Sincerely,

Mark Cullen
Campaign Chair & Co-Founder,
Highway of Heroes Living Tribute
www.markcullen.com
www.HOHTribute.ca   

Latest News & Updates

Garden Club of Toronto Clean-Up

When we first realized we had a good idea in the Highway of Heroes Tree Campaign, we knew we had to start finding sponsors and supporters if we were to ever make our vision a reality. And finding your first ever donor is arguably the most challenging. That's where the Garden Club of Toronto stepped up to the plate in a big way, launching our campaign with our first ever major gift in the fall of 2015. To commemorate their generosity and to really begin planting trees along the highway, a special memorial garden was constructed the following spring at Keele St. and the 401 next to the coroner's office.

A huge thank you to volunteers Jeremy Rozon, Mark Dewdney, his wife Rita, daughter Ella and son AJ who helped Highway of Heroes Tree Campaign Operations Manager, David Turnbull clean up the garden created in front of the Coroner’s Office at Keele Street and the 401 on July 4th.

The group filled three truck & trailer loads of waste, ensuring the garden is properly maintained and cleaned to show off its beauty and properly honour the service members that it commemorates.

Private Landowner Partnership Update

Honour & Remembrance

Over the last month, donations were made in the names of the following individuals:

• Jacob & Charlie & Norm Hollenberg and Al Omson

• F. O. John Lange Harrison

• Pvt. Bobby Stern, WWII

• Greg Gilbert

• Ronald Galloway

• Sapper Brian Collier

• Mrs. Victora Ennamorato

• Jeff Arrand

The Highway of Heroes Tree Campaign is made possible by the generous support of our sponsors and donors like you.