Ontario convoy drivers raise $58,000 for Special Olympics

PARIS, Ont. — The first of the tallies are just coming in, but it looks like this past weekend’s southern Ontario Convoy for Special Olympics may have set records for participation and donations received. After all was said and done, Convoy organizers presented a cheque to a delegation of athletes in Paris, Ont. on Saturday afternoon for $58,000 — and that’s just money the drivers brought in.

There’s still more to be tallied from sponsorships and late arriving pledges from driver who registered but were unable to participate.

There were 111 trucks registered for the Convoy event in southern Ontario. Over and above the $100 entry pledge, 47 drivers brought in additional pledges; 14 brought in over $1000. In 2005, 17 drivers brought in additional pledges. In 2006, the number jumped to 29.

For the second year in a row, MacKinnon Transport’s Brian Hilton earned “Lead Truck” honors by raising the most money in additional pledges, bringing $6,196.55 to the table — including his own $100 entry fee.

Second place in contributions went to Doug Fisher of Transport ‘N Service with pledges and entry fees totaling $5,555. Third went to Shawn Paplinskie of Brian Kurtz Trucking with $3,997. The total for the top three drivers alone was nearly $16,000.

In all, 14 drivers brought in fees and pledges totaling more than $1,000.

Among them was Shawn Toman of Schneider National Carriers in Aberfoyle, Ont. In fourth place over all with $3,107 in pledges and entry fees, he brought his own photo printer from home and took it upon himself to print pictures taken during the running of the Convoy — right on site — and sold them to the drivers.

He turned more than $600 in proceeds over to the Convoy. And that’s just one example of the ingenuity and determination of the drivers participating in the event to make it bigger and better than last year.

Other Convoy events were also launched Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and New Brunswick. The Quebec leg of the convoy rolls out next week.