Runner to take 'Million Steps' for child care
Riverite plans to jog from Campbell River to the B.C. Legislature to raise awareness
Courier-Islander -- Campbell River
06 Jul 2007
By: Denise Sharkey

Campbell River's Shelagh Germyn is willing to take a million steps to ensure that attention is drawn to continuing issues around child care funding in B.C.

Germyn, a veteran ultra-marathoner, is planning to run from Campbell River to Victoria from Oct. 9 - Oct. 16 - a seven day journey she hopes will focus province-wide attention on child care.

"It's the future of the kids that's at stake here for crying out loud," Germyn said. "They say the first six years of a child's life are the most important, well this is important. Child care is important."

In February, Germyn was watching television when she came across CRTV coverage of a town hall meeting called in response to cuts to child care funding. As she watched parents, some of them in tears, outline the problems they faced trying to afford child care, or find a child care spot in the first place, Germyn said she grew more and more angry.

"Mothers, parents, families - they've had enough," she said.

That's when she came up with the concept of running to Victoria, a journey she calls "A Million Steps for Child Care." She went to local child care advocates to talk about it, and the plan took shape. On the morning of Oct. 9, Germyn and supporters will gather at the Campbell River Common shopping centre in the morning for a pancake breakfast with music and speeches. The group will then proceed to city hall, where Germyn will officially begin her run. She plans to run and walk to the B.C. Legislature in Victoria, arriving Oct. 16.

Judy Desprez, coordinator of Forest Circle Child Care Centre, said local child care centres are planning to create huge banners for Germyn to bring along. The banners will feature the tiny footprints of local children in child care centres. Desprez said as Germyn travels from community to community, organizers are hoping that child care supporters will also provide banners to bring along. The idea is to be able to string the banners end to end to create a big statement outside the Legislature.

"We want to wrap it as far around the building as we can," Germyn said.

Interest in the Million Steps for Child Care is growing in other areas of B.C., Desprez said, with organizers in Whistler and other communities planning to show their support when Germyn arrives in Victoria.

Germyn said she's hoping that people from the communities she passes through will walk or run with her through their area. The aim isn't to raise money, but to raise awareness around child care funding issues. However, she said, organizers are looking for an RV or camper van to act as a support vehicle for the event as well as T-shirts with the 'Million Steps for Child Care' logo for the participants to wear.

"The goal is to get the attention of the politicians," Desprez said. "To outline the continuous erosion and plight of the child care system, which really isn't a system at all.

"It's an education. It's not babysitting."

This isn't the first time Germyn has gotten involved in an event that benefits local families. She's a key force behind the 'Women for Women Trail Mix Challenge,' a fundraising walk/run that raises money for a bursary for mothers hoping to continue their education. Germyn said she thinks the two concepts - education for mothers and child care - are related because she's heard of several cases where a parent hoping to return to school has been unable to do so due to an inability to find child care.