After nearly 80 days and 7,700 kilometres on the road, a retired couple from Ontario has finally reached the end of their cross-country journey. Rich and Pam Eyram, originally from Burlington, Ont., started their charity ride with the goal of raising $100,000 for Kids Help Phone. So far, the campaign has raised more than $87,000. They hope the funds raised can help bring mental-health services to more rural communities. “There are so many small communities that don’t have service,” Pam Eyram told CTV News Atlantic on Saturday. “Doing this is reaching those small communities, and people in them, to talk to anyone who we can about Kids Help Phone.” Pam added that anyone who is “feeling low” should reach out to Kids Help Phone if they feel like they need support. “There are people who care, and there’s people who are there, people who listen,” she said. “And you matter.” The couple set out on their bike and campervan from British Columbia in May. Rich began the trip by dipping his tires in the Pacific Ocean, and on Saturday, he dipped those same tires in the Atlantic Ocean in Halifax. Rich did the cross-Canada journey via bike while Pam navigated the campervan. Throughout the trip, the couple stopped in several communities where they got to connect with new people and hear their stories. “I have never been a mental-health professional, but I’ll say that I was just being deeply touched by all these stories, just personal, deep stories from people in every community we stopped at,” said Rich on Saturday. “I’m an optimist, and I look at the hope side of things that people are talking about, their feelings and emotions.” Despite a hard 7,700 kilometres, the couple says they’ll miss being on the road. “It’s sad to think about finishing this, this journey that we’ve had such a great time and met so many incredible people across the country,” Pam said. “It also just filled our hearts with love to see all these people supporting us here at the end.” For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
