Off the Beaten Path

Mike and his crew will be gearing up on June 2nd 2012 for the 6th Annual ATV ride in Support of The Holmes Foundation presented by OFATV and Can-Am. You can pledge to support your favorite rider here.

From Mike Holmes' Facebook page:

Very excited for the OFATV's 6th Annual ATV Ride in Support of The Holmes Foundation. My crew and I are going to be gearing up on June 2nd for an awesome day on the trails - raising money for a great cause. Check out the link below for details about how you can get involved!

So what exactly is the Holmes Foundation? Here's a little snippet from the website.

 The Holmes Foundation is working to ensure that all home renovation and construction in Canada is done right - the first time.

People write me from all over the world asking for help. I get hundreds of emails each week about shoddy renovations. And I wanted to help these people but there were just too many families asking for help. I’m only one guy--I can’t fix all these problems. But I kept thinking - what can I do to help? What will make a difference? And I realized that the best way to help is to train more people to build correctly, more people who will Make It Right™. That is why I started The Holmes Foundation.

Canada does not have enough skilled trades people – in construction or in other trades – and the problem is only going to get worse as the baby boomers retire unless we do something about it. As long as we don’t have enough skilled trades people, we will continue to have bad contractors. If we don’t get more skilled trades people who will build our roads, schools, hospitals and houses in the future?

Trades people are absolutely critical to society but don’t always get the respect they deserve. Many parents and teachers discourage kids from getting into the trades. That attitude is just wrong – for Canada and for kids. Skilled trades jobs pay well, and are creative and rewarding. I love being a contractor and so do most of the people I work with. The goal of The Holmes Foundation is to get people to understand and respect construction and the construction trades so that parents, teachers and students will consider these trades when thinking about careers. Please help me get the message out.

You don't have to be Canadian to support the Holmes Foundation either. It's a great cause that helps a lot of people.