For most of us, a trip to Italy might involve doing some sight-seeing, some fine dining and relaxing over a bottle of wine. For Derek Haines, former Royal Cayman Islands Police Service detective chief superintendent and long-time Meals on Wheels volunteer, his Italian trip involved walking 265 miles over 22 days – averaging a half marathon every day, although he still managed to find time for a glass or two of Chianti.
Haines, 77, and his fellow trekker, friend and former rugby mate Greg Swart, 58, have just returned from walking part of the ancient Via Francigena pilgrimage route between Lucca and Rome, which was navigated by Hannibal and his elephants in 218 BC.
Fundraising challenges
The epic walk, which was to raise funds for Meals on Wheels’ new building, was the latest in an impressive series of fundraising challenges. Over the years Haines has hiked, climbed and run hundreds of miles to raise several millions of dollars for good causes, including the construction of the Jasmine hospice and palliative care building, the Jubilate after-school programme and Inclusion Cayman, which Haines supported by doing a 550-mile hike across the Pyrenees.
Haines’ most recent adventure was to raise crucial funds for the Meals on Wheels’ new building and was the second part of a two-part mission. Last year, Haines completed the 175-mile Robert Louis Stevenson Trail in France with his nephew Tom Carlin, raising over $800,000 towards the new building. Groundbreaking on the site took place last June but the cost of construction and the kitchen fit out meant that another $500,000 was required, so Haines once again donned his walking boots.
“I’m really pleased with how it all went,” he said, back in Cayman after his European adventure. “The scenery was absolutely gorgeous and the weather was excellent, with blue skies every day.”
The route took Haines and Swart through historic hilltop villages and towns, such as Siena, Orvieto and San Gimignano, past volcanic lakes, cypress groves, churches and vineyards.
While Tuscany doesn’t boast the high peaks of Haines’ previous fundraisers, such as climbing Acatenango Volcano in Guatemala, the undulating Tuscan hills meant the duo tackled 1,000 feet of ups and downs every day, with some days clocking up 30 miles on roads and paths.
The inclines provoked a return of a lower-back niggle in Siena which needed medical treatment, but Haines’ long association with the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman came in handy, with a doctor in Siena refusing any payment once he discovered he was attending to a fellow Rotarian.
The pair celebrated reaching the end of their epic walk – which was entirely self-funded – with a beer and a pizza just steps from the Vatican. So far, the trip has raised between $350,000 and $400,000 thanks to public and corporate donations, including from Rotary Club of Grand Cayman and Rotary Central, which leaves around $200,000 to go.
Kitchen costs
With the roof now on the new Meals on Wheels building, the main cost is the fit-out of the kitchen.
“I’m so grateful to the people of Cayman for supporting such a good cause,” said Haines. “It is really appreciated and will make such a difference.”
With nearly three decades of volunteering with Meals on Wheels, Haines said that the benefit to those it serves goes far beyond the meals themselves.
“You’re taking food to people,” he said, “but you’re also taking contact to people, often the elderly, who are probably on their own a lot of the time. If you have the time, as I fortunately do, to be able to spend a few minutes chatting away and making them feel that they’re still part of the society. I think it’s really important”.
It’s not just the recipients who benefit, he said. “I certainly enjoy all the chatter that goes on. There’s a couple of ladies on my route, for instance, who are well into their 90s, and they seem to look forward to the visit. They usually finish up laughing and that’s wonderful.”
Donations can be made directly to Cayman Islands Meals on Wheels at www.pledgeasenior.com.
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