H2O: Ideas & Action for Canada's Water

Erik Friesen, a first year university student from Winnipeg, is putting his muscles to work on a cycling endurance test to raise money for the Lake Winnipeg Research Consortium Scholarship. He is going to ride from the headwaters of the Red River at Breckenridge, Minnesota all the way to the Forks in Winnipeg. Its a distance of 450 km and he’s planning to do it in one day! That seems like a real challenge to me but when I mention this to Erik, he just grins and says it’s for a good cause.

Erik Friesen on last year’s bike tour

All the proceeds are going directly into a fund that provides scholarships to Graduate students doing research on the Lake Winnipeg Watershed.  If you would like some more information on it you can visit Erik’s Facebook page.

If you would like to make a donation, you can write a cheque to: Lake Winnipeg Research Consortium, 62-2nd Ave.,P.O. Box 1289    Gimli, MB  R0C 1B0 . Mark it “The Water Cycle” and a tax receipt will be issued.

Anyone who donates can get a chance to win a day trip on the LWRC research ship, the Namao. The LWRC is working on encouraging more coordination and research on Lake Winnipeg so their scholarship fund is a terrific way to get graduate students paying attention to our great lake.

I asked Erik what motivated him to do this Water Cycle fundraiser and he answered simply that he is interested in doing whatever he can to preserve this great lake. He has spent time at both Grand Beach and Victoria Beach for many summers and is all too aware of the “horrible green sludge” (blue-green algae) that washes up on those beaches every August. I’m impressed and inspired by Erik’s personal commitment and effort to help Lake Winnipeg. I hope he gets lots of support for his Water Cycle Fundraiser!