Ottawa Construction News staff writer
Ottawa’s construction community brought the ultimate show-and-tell to the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) last Saturday, lining the hospital’s Ring Road with heavy equipment for the sixth annual Construction Community Cares Parade.
Organized by the National Capital Heavy Construction Association (NCHCA) and the Ottawa Construction Association (OCA), the Sept. 19 event allowed pediatric patients and their families to experience excavators and other heavy machinery up close. Children were able to watch the big rigs from the curbside, as well as from the windows of the hospital, Rotel, Ronald McDonald House and the Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice.
Along with bringing smiles to families facing difficult medical journeys, the construction associations presented a cheque for nearly $27,000 to the CHEO Foundation in support of pediatric palliative care.
For families navigating long-term hospital stays, the parade provided a rare sense of normalcy and an opportunity to reunite. Ashley and Alex Letourneau made a nine-hour drive from Timmins with their other daughter to join three-year-old Millie, who is currently receiving treatment for leukemia at CHEO.
“It just provides some enjoyment for our family to be together. It’s the first time the whole family is experiencing the Construction Community Cares parade,” Alex Letourneau told CTV News Ottawa at the event. “It’s very good to finally get together, ’cause you come from a long ways from home and we’re finally here all together as a family and enjoying this nice event.”
Five-year-old Mason was thrilled to see the machinery in person. “I like excavators, those are my favourite,” he told CTV News.
“We just love how much CHEO likes to involve the community and bring everybody together because there’s not always a lot of events like this, so it’s a really special day,” Mason’s mother added. “Events like this just give our family something to do on the weekends when we can’t go anywhere because of medical issues.”
The ongoing support from the industry carries deep historical significance for the hospital grounds. According to the CHEO Foundation, more than 100 local construction firms originally provided $2 million in charitable donations, labour and materials to build the Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice. That massive industry-wide effort was spearheaded by the late Roly Hein, CEO of R.E. Hein Construction.
Today, the parade continues that legacy of community building.
“Construction companies all over and their families have been donating to CHEO in all sorts of different ways, and this is another small donation we do,” an industry representative said during the cheque presentation. “But the primary goal of it is to guarantee some fun and some enjoyment for the kids here today.”
