Cycling event to remember Const. Marc Hovingh
Almost 10 months to the day that Const. Marc was killed, family, friends and even strangers will cycle both on Manitoulin Island and virtually Saturday.
It's the first annual Marc Hovingh Memorial Island Ride.
“It’s a great fundraiser just for youth who are in need,” said Lianne Hovingh, Marc’s wife. "It can be anything from shoes or winter coats, extra tutoring or help with going to university."
While it’s free to participate, those taking part are being encouraged to make a donation to the OPP Youth Foundation.
“(It) funds disadvantaged youth,” said Const. Marie Ford, of the OPP Manitoulin detachment. "It helps them realize their potential. It really assists the OPP in creating good, positive relationships with youth."
Lianne Hovingh said the event is a fitting tribute her husband.
“He would just be that really good listening ear and would always make himself available for youth who were in need and that’s just Marc’s heart," she said.
"He just loved to help. He, just in his quiet way, he would make a big impact on youth's lives but never in the forefront, never for everybody to see. It was actually more after his death that I would hear from family members (about) the difference he would make.”
Cyclists will travel 33-136 kilometres on Saturday. The hope is to continue the event for years to come.
“It's an incredible chance for us to just get the wind on our bodies, get some exercise and just remember an incredibility wonderful man who we miss so much,” said Ford.
Hovingh said she wishes there was a better way to express how she feels rather than just thank you. She said the love and support both her and her four children have felt since Marc’s passing has been surrounding them.
“It’s just so greatly appreciated," she said. "It has definitely lifted us up and yeah I just can’t thank everybody enough and I do just want to thank everybody from the bottom of my heart.”
For more information on the ride or to donate to the OPP Youth Foundation click here.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Competition bureau finds 'substantial' anti-competitive effects with proposed Bunge-Viterra merger
The proposed merger of agricultural giants Viterra and Bunge is raising competition concerns from the federal government.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.