Centre 105 is getting a lift from Two Strong Christian Boys Who Can Move Heavy Things.
That’s the long but self-explanatory name that Kaptain MacDonald and Hayden Hamilton adopted for an outreach program they created, offering their help to anyone in need in the Cornwall, Ont. area.
It all started last year after a winter storm when the two friends helped a woman who needed to change her tires to winter tires so that she could drive to a hospital to see her dying mother. “Hayden and I felt very blessed to be a tool of God, really a wrench in in God’s toolbox,” MacDonald told Perspective in an interview. They felt it was a calling.
People who knew them didn’t take them seriously at first, but MacDonald says they decided, “Just for fun, let’s blow it up on Facebook…We ended up as a joke calling ourselves the Two Strong Christian Boys That Can Move Heavy Things, just because it was funny… but it’s stuck like glue and everybody knows us as that…Since then, we’ve done full moveouts, simple furniture moves…. Then we started doing landscaping, offering snow removal. It’s us that’s truly been blessed that people have these needs and that were used by God to be actually able to go out and help them.”
They don’t ask for payment. MacDonald says they use any donations they receive to help pay for supplies such as gas or equipment to enable them to help others.
Now, they have a plan to help Centre 105 and Lighthouse Drop-in Centre in Cornwall.
“We heard so much about Centre 105… but going there and actually seeing the gravity of what Centre 105 does, it blew us away. The fact that they sit 100 people four days a week, the laundry, the food, everything. I was holding tears back as I was there…. It’s our pleasure to try and help them,” says MacDonald.
The Boys recognized that what is most helpful to Centre 105 and the Lighthouse is not lifting heavy things but money to fund their operations, so starting on May 29, they are doing a two-day, 63-kilometre fundraising walk to benefit both centres. They are walking from Cornwall to Maxville and back again.
MacDonald says they don’t expect many people to walk the whole distance with them, but they have identified checkpoints along their route where people could join in and walk part of the way with them. By the end of March, they had raised about $4,000. They also hope to raise awareness and support in the community for the important work done at both Centre 105 and the Lighthouse Drop-in Centre.
“Centre 105 would like to thank Kaptain and Hayden for all the effort they’ve put into organizing this 63km walk in support of Centre 105 and the Lighthouse Centre,” said Mélodie Cousineau, a social service worker at Centre 105. “When I met with them a few weeks ago to talk about the fundraiser, it was clear how committed they are to helping Cornwall Ministries and the community. They were great to speak with and genuinely passionate about what they’re doing,” she said. “It’s really amazing to see our community come together like this. We’re looking forward to their walk in May and are very grateful for their efforts, as well as for everyone who continues to support them.”
For more information or to donate, look for Two Strong Christian Boys That Can Move Heavy Things on Facebook or contact Centre 105.
Saint James the Apostle, Manotick — West Ottawa Deanery