As we say goodbye to Daryl McIntyre and the pack over at Infinite Woofs, we say hello to Neil Bourgeois, The Streets Initiative’s 23rd Featured Edmontonian. For those new to what this is all about, the local resident featured on my website has the sole responsibility of choosing where the donations and my running kilometer pledge for the current period go. Neil has chosen the Edmonton Food Bank for September and October which will mark the second time this fine organization has been picked. This makes me happy because any donations that contribute to helping their mandate of keeping every Edmontonian fed is very much a worthy endeavor. There is a description of the Food Bank and what they are all about on the home page of The Streets Initiative’s website, just click on the Foodbank logo on my home page.
Let’s get down to business and let me tell you a bit about Neil, starting with the fact the 46 year old resident of Crestwood on Edmonton’s west side is both a husband and father of three great kids. I’ve always been impressed with the level of outdoor activity their crew does on a fairly regular basis, notably overnight backpacking hikes in the Canadian Rockies. I saw some recent photos of a trip to Lake O Hara and was blown away by how picturesque it was. I’m inspired to try to get my kids to go and check it out.
Is anybody curious about current industry trends or emerging technologies? Well, just ask Neil! He just happens to be a software engineer and University of Alberta alumnus (go Bears!). Check out the fintech startup he’s a developer on at http://www.trustscience.com! His effortless navigation of code and ability to debug systems is awe inspiring. So awe inspiring, in fact, that he was my first phone call when I decided to build thestreetsinitiative.org website back in 2020. Let me say that without his help it would have been next to impossible for me to have been able to figure out the complexities of website construction and dealing with problems that come up on a semi regular basis, usually because of something I did. These issues that crop up are way over my head so I’m glad I have access to a pro like Neil. I truly believe the site would never have gotten off the ground and this whole thing would not have been as much fun, I think its a pretty rad site.
As I previously mentioned, Neil is a resident of the neighborhood of Crestwood and he came up with a pretty fun idea. To get into the spirit of what The Streets Initiative is all about, Neil has decided to run every Crestwood street and alley with me. We were speculating on how many kilometers it is and looks to be fairly hefty so stay tuned to find out but we certainly won’t be doing it in a single run I don’t think haha. Let’s support Neil’s choice for the Food Bank and keep this train rolling down the tracks! Thanks Edmonton!
