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The sales agent from Re/Max by The Bay in Wasaga Beach, Ont., and Holly have ridden more than 73,000 kilometres through 15 countries in memory of Alyssa Rae. Johnson’s and wife Mary’s first daughter was born in 1998 and died 20 days later. The Alyssa Rae Johnson Fund was set up in her honour.

Holly was 12 years old at the time of their first Motorcycle for Miracles ride, which left Toronto in 2013 and wound its way to Costa Rica. “Holly would ask, ‘Where are we going to stay tonight?’ I said, ‘I don’t know,” Johnson says. But hundreds of colleagues and strangers have opened their homes.

Johnson says he told one family about losing Alyssa Rae and riding to raise money to help other sick children. “One of the family’s children dumped their piggy bank contents on the counter wanting to donate,” he says, adding that the generosity of people, especially children, leaves him deeply touched.

Along the way, more than 500 donors, including former basketball player Magic Johnson signed a Re/Max flag. It was auctioned off for $30,000 to Re/Max Integra of Ontario. The company gave the flag back to Bruce Johnson. “We have had three different journey flags auctioned off so far for $72,000, and those three flags were donated back to our family. We are going to auction off the fourth flag from this past summer’s (solo) Labrador Ride at our national Re/Max convention.”

During their first trip, they had to explain to people what their journey was all about. But the following rides were different. Johnson says people along the way were waiting. At one Re/Max office in Mexico, they were greeted by 40 agents wearing t-shirts with the message “Welcome Bruce and Holly.”

They have since completed two more rides together. During their Ride Across Canada, they visited 14 children’s hospitals. It took six months to complete the nearly 24,000-kilometre Ends of the Earth Ride.

The Ends of the Earth Ride was the second time Johnson rode the route. In 1991, during a trip to the Arctic, Johnson met his wife, Mary. “I knew within an hour that I would marry her,” he says. They kept in touch, then decided to ride from the Arctic to Argentina. Their bicycle trip took 34 months. Johnson, a journalism and photography graduate, freelanced, selling stories and photos to local papers as they travelled.

When she was 10, Holly asked if she and her father could do the ride from Wasaga Beach to Costa Rica.

Despite the miles, weather ranging from freezing cold to endless rain to searing heat and being chased by bears, “Holly has never complained,” says Johnson, adding that his daughter is a remarkable young woman with a kind heart.

Johnson has always loved riding, but “the experience doesn’t compare with travelling for something greater than yourself.”

This year has been a year of 25s, Burlington Ont.-born, Cambridge-raised Johnson says. He got his real estate license 25 years ago, has been with the same Re/Max office (where his sister is a broker) for 25 years and has been supporting the Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) for 25 years.

“Real estate is the greatest gig on earth,” he says, appreciating the flexibility to continue his fundraising efforts. If he’s away, some clients will wait to buy or sell their homes. He also calls on family members (he calls them “The Glue”) to look after his clients.

Along with the rides with Holly, Johnson recently completed a fourth trip, a solo 10,000-km ride around eastern Canada. He says the experience wasn’t the same without Holly to keep him company. (Holly, now 21, and her 18-year-old sister Jocelyn, also an instrumental part of the fundraising team, are attending university in Ottawa.)

Donations can be made electronically on the CMN website and go to the donors’ local hospital. The Johnson family pays their own trip-related expenses.

Johnson is the 2019 recipient of the National Association of Realtor’s Good Neighbor award, which honours Realtors who have made a positive impact on their communities. He is the first and only Canadian to be so honoured. He is also an Ontario Real Estate Association Real Heart Ambassador. The program highlights the good work realtors do.

He takes any opportunity to talk about the cause, raise money and help sick children and their families. One thing he wants his family and all the people who have helped him is to know that he’s grateful. He says he couldn’t have done it alone.

Click here to donate, and join the Johnson Family in supporting SickKids and CMN.

Connie Adair

Connie Adair is a contributing writer for REM.

The post Road to one million: A realtor and his daughter’s remarkable journey appeared first on REM.

On Aug. 1, to kick off Re/Max’s annual Month of Miracles fund-raising campaign, Johnson set off from his home in Wasaga Beach on a 10,000-km solo ride to Labrador, with a goal of raising $250,000 for CMN. He stopped at 10 CMN hospitals along the way, visited with children and families, and reached his fundraising goal. The ride, dubbed the “Road to a Million,” marked another significant milestone for Johnson, bringing his total funds raised for CMN to $1 million.

In 2018, Johnson went on the Ends of the Earth Ride, a 28,000-km journey from Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T. to Ushuaia, Argentina). In 2016 he rode across Canada and in 2013 rode to Costa Rica, all to raise money for CMN and enlist “champion agents” throughout the Re/Max network.

“We hope to involve as many champion agents as possible with a minimum donation of $2,500,” says Johnson, who is with Re/Max By the Bay. “But no matter the size of the donation, we’re grateful to witness the spirit of generosity so that kids can be helped or even cured – and go on to the important business of being a kid again.”

He says the most recent ride holds a special significance for him. “Having raised $750,000 for CMN to this point, aiming for $250,000 on this ride was a natural goal. Also, I’m celebrating my 25th anniversary as a real estate agent and my 25th year supporting the Children’s Miracle Network, so there’s magic in this milestone.”

Johnson and his wife Mary lost their first child, Alyssa Rae, in 1998, after she spent 20 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at SickKids Hospital in Toronto. Before his first fundraising journey in 2013, the Johnsons set up the Alyssa Rae Johnson Fund at SickKids, with 100 per cent of donations benefitting sick and injured children and supporting medical research, education and patient care.

Johnson was honoured for his charitable efforts in 2019 with a National Association of Realtors Good Neighbor Award. He is the only Canadian recipient ever. He continues to champion the Re/Max Miracle Home and Miracle Commercial Property Program.

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Antalek is a second-generation Realtor with more than 30 years of experience, says CREA. In 1989, he put his career as a schoolteacher on hold to work alongside his father and sister in real estate.

His contributions to the Ridge Meadows Hospital Foundation were instrumental in the creation of the Antalek Family Psychiatry Unit, which serves the mental health needs of adult patients within the hospital walls, says CREA.

He has served on the Ridge Meadows Hospital Foundation Board of Directors since 2009 and has been its chair since 2012. As part of this role, he has been deeply involved in the foundation’s strategic planning.

In a story on the Realtors Care website, Antalek says he hopes that by accepting the award and sharing his story, he might inspire others to give volunteering a try. “What is your passion? What makes you feel warm inside? What can bring a tear to your eye? Pursue that as a volunteer,” he says.

In Ron Antalek’s honour, CREA has donated $5,000 to the Ridge Meadows Hospital Foundation.

Other Realtors who were nominated by friends, fellow Realtors and charity representatives for being inspiring examples of Realtors giving back were

• Gregg Bamford of Re/Max Saskatoon East, Saskatoon
• Kevin Dol of Royal LePage in The Comox Valley, Courtenay, B.C.
• Rebecca Pearl Himelfarb of Forest Hill Real Estate, Toronto
• Bill Hubbard of Century 21 Executives Realty, Vernon, B.C.
• Bruce Johnson of Re/Max of Wasaga Beach, Wasaga Beach, Ont.
• Jeff McMaster of Royal LePage Team Realty, Carleton Place, Ont.
• John Patricelli of Sutton – Centre Realty, Burnaby, B.C.
• Colin Zappia of Sutton Group – Ottawa Realty, Ottawa

CREA says if you know a Realtor who is making a difference in their community and deserves recognition on a national level, watch for the announcement of the nomination period for the 2021 award this September.

REM is the official media sponsor for the 2020 award.

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Johnson and the other four Good Neighbor Award winners will receive a $10,000 grant for their charity and will be featured in the November-December issue of NAR’s Realtor magazine. The recipients will be presented with crystal trophies on Nov. 9 during the 2019 Realtors Conference & Expo in San Francisco.

Johnson also won a “Web Choice Favorite” prize after receiving one of the top three highest vote totals from the public. Because of this, Children’s Miracle Network will receive an additional $1,250 grant from realtor.com, which sponsors the voting. Over the past 20 years, the Good Neighbor Awards program has awarded $1.3 million in grants to more than 200 Realtor-led non-profits.

After his daughter, Alyssa, died at 20-days-old, Johnson was inspired to show his appreciation to the doctors and staff who cared for her. Johnson’s longest ride came in 2018, when he and his 19-year-old daughter, Holly, rode from the northernmost point in Canada to the southern tip of South America – a six-month-long, 16,000-mile journey. Johnson has raised about $600,000 for his cause to date.

Watch the video above to see Johnson’s full story.

“What I would say to the National Association of Realtors is that there are a lot of great things being done by Realtors in Canada, and thanks for looking north of the border. It’s a great honour,” says Johnson.

NAR’s Good Neighbor Awards program is supported by primary sponsor realtor.com and Wells Fargo. Nominees were judged on their personal investment of time along with their financial and material contributions to benefit their cause. To be eligible, nominees must be NAR members in good standing.

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“People like Bruce Johnson, who are dedicated to their communities and committed to improving the lives of people around them, inspire us and epitomize who we are as Realtors,” says NAR president John Smaby of Edina, Minn.

Johnson, with Re/Max of Wasaga Beach, is representing SickKids Foundation and the Children’s Miracle Network. In memory of his daughter, Alyssa, who died in 1998 at 20 days old, Johnson has traveled more than 37,000 miles across North and South America on his motorcycle. Johnson has raised more than $600,000 for Children’s Miracle Network, which benefits the SickKids hospital in Toronto where his daughter was treated, and a network of children’s hospitals.

Johnson is one of 10 Realtors being honoured who have donated their time, money and passion to enrich the lives of the people in their communities. He is the only Canadian on the list.

On Oct. 2, five winners will be named from among the 10 finalists. Winners will receive a $10,000 grant and national media exposure for their efforts, including a feature in the November/December issue of Realtor Magazine. The winners will also receive travel expenses to the 2019 Realtors Conference & Expo in San Francisco, where they will accept an award in front of thousands of their peers. The remaining five finalists will be named honourable mentions and receive a $2,500 grant in recognition of their work.

The public is invited to vote for their favourites of the 10 finalists. The top three vote getters will win bonus grants of $2,500, $1,250 and $1,250, respectively, for their non-profit organizations. Last year’s Web Choice Favorite voting program generated a record of more than 165,000 votes. Voting is open at http://www.realtor.com/goodneighbor until Sept. 28.

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Bruce and Holly rode from Canada to Costa Rica in 2013 and they rode across Canada from Newfoundland to B.C. in 2016.

The riders traveled by plane from Toronto to Inuvik on Aug. 2 and rode north to Tuktoyaktuk, NT, on the shores of the Arctic Ocean. They then are heading south until they get to Ushuaia, projected to arrive in late January 2019.

Bruce’s wife Mary Johnson and daughter Jocelyn, 14, are co-ordinating the fundraising and planning aspects from home in Wasaga Beach.

Every dollar raised will go to local children’s hospitals’ highest priority needs.

In 1998, Bruce and Mary lost their first child, Alyssa Rae, after just 20 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at SickKids in Toronto. They says they are profoundly grateful for the care she received during her short but impactful life and want to give back.

Click here for more information and to donate.

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The post Sales rep Bruce Johnson and daughter riding motorcycle from Arctic to Argentina for children’s hospitals appeared first on REM.

Johnson has raised more than $100,000 for Children’s Miracle Network (SickKids Hospital in Toronto specifically) since his first fundraising ride (Wasaga Beach to Costa Rica) in 2013.

Bruce and his wife Mary lost their daughter Alyssa Rae in 1998 after she was born, despite the efforts of the doctors and nurses at SickKids. The couple chose to channel the painful experience into one of hope for other families by raising awareness and necessary funds.

“The fundraising idea has been brewing since Holly’s most recent eye surgery at SickKids,” says Bruce. “I found myself in the NICU and visited the room in which Alyssa passed away in our arms in 1998 and I was struck by how powerful that moment … and that place … still is in our lives.  We have always supported SickKids and CMN through the Miracle Home Program, but we wanted to do more.”

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Through promoting their idea on social media and word of mouth in the Re/Max community, the small table they set up quickly began to overflow.

By the end of the day, they collected thousands of dollars worth of toys (12 full bags and three full boxes) that were donated directly to the CP24 Christmas Wish Program.

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