For many, the Calgary Stampede is an occasion marked successful by the number of rides ridden, the size of stuffed animal won, or varieties of deep-fried food (and alcohol) consumed. But the Brakemen Foundation has been using the festival as a means to help others - an effort that brings incomparable fulfillment. The Brakemen Foundation, named after the position considered most important among rail transport workers, was established in 2012 by Earl Hale, from the Okotoks area, and Derek Krivak to help combat hunger among children in Calgary. “[Schools] would have kids that chronically come without food,” said Brakemen member Cindy McLaughlin, who lives just outside of Okotoks. “No one can learn when they’re hungry, and if we want to make a difference in this world we have to give [kids] good lunches so that their brains can remain interested and focused.” As Calgary Stampede fans, the club decided to sponsor a chuckwagon driver and sell the tickets they receive for doing so to raise money for their cause. “We give them food and drink and entertainment and shuffle them all to the chuckwagons, and afterwards they go to our tent back at the barns,” said McLaughlin. “They meet the drivers…[it’s] a really fun evening for people.” Blackie’s Jordie Fike was one of the sponsored drivers this year. This was his seventh year participating in the Calgary Stampede. “My grandfather did it for a lot of years, and after I was kind of done playing hockey I ended up getting in the wagon and started driving myself,” he said. Fike explained that there are 36 chuckwagon drivers that compete against each other every night of the Rangeland Derby. The winner of the final race on the last day wins $100,000, but Fike said he doesn’t compete for the money. “If you did it for the money, you would have quit a long time ago,” he said. “I do it for the horses and the family environment… it’s not a huge moneymaking venture, but it’s a lifestyle.” This was Fike’s first time representing the Brakemen Foundation. “With an organization like that it feels really good to represent them. They’re behind a great cause, so how could I feel anything but good about it?” he said. McLaughlin said they sponsored one chuckwagon driver the first year and have only grown since. On Friday night, the club aimed to host 220 Stampede attendees. They also hold a live auction with donated items. “We are all volunteers - nobody gets paid. All of the money we raise goes directly to feeding kids in Calgary,” McLaughlin said. In 2016 the club launched a campaign called Zero Hungry Kids, hoping to provide nourishment during the school day to every child in the Calgary school system in need. It is now a registered charity. “At the end of the day, when we hand over that cheque for the lunches, that is the biggest rush ever,” said McLaughlin. For more information or to donate, go to brakemenfoundation.com.
