Tim L
With June ending and July starting, it means the ushering in of a new period and a new local featured runner in charge of telling me where all funds gathered by The Streets Initiative are to go. That runner is none other than… (drumroll)…. Stephen Obermeier out of west central Edmonton! Steve becomes the 5th runner featured on the site and adds to the pretty good mix that I’ve had on here. Steve (or Obi as he’s known by his friends) is a beauty of a character whom I first met back in 1990 or so. Anybody that knows Steve is glad they do, he’s just that great of a guy without a bad bone in his body. Always active, he started taking running seriously in his early 20’s and competed in many local races and triathlons. He is similar to myself in that he enjoys hitting the Edmonton trails early in the morning when the sun is coming up and was telling me during our run together that his father was a big influence on him, mentioning how he was a runner and involved with the St. Albert Road Runners. The two also did a lot of cycling together and it sounds like he was a strong influence on Steve’s success and drives home how important role models are for achieving life goals.
This go-kart building enthusiast works as a director of sales for an IT company here in the city and has chosen Youth Empowerment and Social Services (YESS) as this period’s recipient. You can read my summary about YESS here: https://thestreetsinitiative.org/2021/07/01/steves-choice-for-july-and-august-2021-donations-is-yess/, or you can visit their site at http://www.yess.org if you’re interested at an in-depth look on the impact they have in guiding, sheltering, and healing Edmonton’s local youth. They have a really well put together website. As always, any donations are greatly appreciated and go towards making our communities a better place! Thanks Steve! See below for the Pulitzer Prize winning interview I had with him in Mackinnon Ravine:
