Affectionately nicknamed "Art," Mr. Brochu recently completed a hundred-kilometer ride in aid of research for the blind in the Cycle for Sight (Slyvan Lake, AB) event on September 9, 2017.
ALBERTA BEACH, AB, November 07, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Arthur J. Brochu has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Affectionately nicknamed "Art," Mr. Brochu recently completed a hundred-kilometer ride in aid of research for the blind in the Cycle for Sight (Slyvan Lake, AB) event on September 9, 2017. He made the news earlier this year by cycling 5,300 kilometers throughout Alberta in support of the Children's Wish Foundation, the Canadian charity that grants the wishes of children with terminal illness, and will be riding once again in May of 2018 in support of the foundation. He will also be adding bike training for children within a number of different communities. His first act of philanthropy came to him and started to plan so that it could take place within the year of his 70th birthday, and was inspired by his 25 years of service with the Canadian armed forces. Mr. Brochu was stationed in a number of areas where he saw a great deal of suffering, especially by children. Since retiring from the Canadian army, he has dedicated himself to his fellow soldiers, children and his community.
An alumnus of Victoria College and the University of Alberta, Mr. Brochu is career military who served in Germany during the Cold War. He is haunted by the memory of those who tried to flee the Soviet border, and in an interview for the Edmonton Journal in 2017, he recalled a mother who lost her life getting her daughter across. Mr. Brochu personally helped the daughter, and later learned that she had made her way to Canada. He served a total of seven and a half years in areas where he saw children suffering from conflict.
"When you're over there, you walk by them all the time and you see them," he said in a 2017 interview for the online publication YL Country, "It wasn't our mandate to do humanitarian issues, but you still saw it every day. I always promised that I was going to do something for children as a result."
Now 73 years old, Mr. Brochu began his preparation in 2009, and trained with Olympian Lori-Ann Muenzer to prepare for his first charitable journey. In 2014, (age 70) he rode 9,285 kilometers in a Canadian national campaign from Port Hardy, British Columbia to St. John's, Newfoundland. Supported by his wife, Beth and three other great friends, Mr. Brochu has also given to a number of other charitable organizations, including Canada Remembers, Cadets, sports and Aurora Loss Prevention Ltd.
"I've met some of the families, and the children, through the foundation," Brochu said for YL Country. "I then realized, as a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder sufferer, that I had to do something. You hear all this publicity about PTSD among the military and the first responders, but these families with terminally-ill children suffer from it too, as do their communities. And so, everybody getting out and working together and helping each other is how we get through that."
Mr. Brochu also spoke 95 times during the trip across Canada (2014) and 56 times this year throughout Alberta in reference to PTSD. Do people with PTSD need help from others and the Governments, for sure; however, help has to start within, what are you doing for yourself? To start it is so important to get on the right track, ensure you are following the right diet, getting the proper nourishment to help the body and mind grow in a positive manner, along with a proper plan to exercise. Your exercise may be very short to start; however, it has to grow as you proceed. You will also need to find the exercise you enjoy so that you will stay with it. His was cycling, what is yours? Proper diet and exercise will really help you to start feeling better about yourself and then and only then, that other help will mean so much more. Again what are you doing to help yourself today?
To donate to Mr. Brochu's charity, please visit http://www.childrens-wish.ca/artcyclesforwishes/index.html
About Marquis Who's Who :
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America , Marquis Who's Who has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who's Who in America remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.
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