To raise some $300,000 for a new Men’s Shelter in Lloydminster, the new executive director plans to run across Alberta and Saskatchewan as he puts up for the cause.
Kagan Kneen is originally from Marwayne. He has been away from the Midwest area for some 16 years but left the corporate city life to be closer to family and give back to the community.
“I love the city. I love the community. Just the level of engagement is fantastic. It’s great to have family suppers on Sunday nights again.”
Kneen has been back since March and most of his experience has been in the business world from retail, telecommunications, veterinary medicine, and ophthalmology. He says the switch to serving the unhoused allows him to give back.
“It’s very challenging. For me it’s all about building relationships with the individual clients, and also within the community that people start to understand some of the challenges that the unhoused population deal with on a regular basis.”
In August, Kneen will run from Decoigne, Alberta to Wroxton, Saskatchewan to raise money for the Men’s Shelter. It’s some 1,300 kilometres. Kneen loves marathons and has been training since spring.
“I love anything that’s going to push me to those limits. When brainstorming with the board, one of my directives when I was hired was, we need you to start looking for a new location. And the first thing that popped in was how about creating additional exposure through a running campaign.”
Kneen will sleep in a tent as another way to resonate with the Men’s Shelter clients who sleep in the open.
The first goal is to raise some $300,000, but the end game could see about $750,000 going towards raising the capacity of the shelter from 28 to 60 beds.
Kneen has bought his shoes but would certainly welcome sponsorship in numerous areas for the August run which will see him doing some 50 kilometres a day, then resting at night, and continuing that schedule for some 20 days until about August 28.
Sponsors can contribute online, and a tax receipt will be issued in January. You can follow along this journey on Instagram. Kneen will begin his run on Aug. 1.
MyLloydminsterNow will be following up with Kneen over the summer as this fundraiser gets underway.
