Three thousand steps a day. That’s how many steps longtime Saskatoon resident and mental health professional, Frances Sreedhar has been walking each day along the Meewasin Valley Trail.

Her goal was to get to a million steps over the course of the pandemic by March 31st of this year, although she’s already achieved that goal. Her new goal is to walk 1,111,111 steps before the end of March.

For each step, she hopes to raise one cent. That would mean $10,000 per step of her initial goal. The money raised will be divided between the Meewasin Valley Authority and the Canadian Mental Health Association Saskatoon.

Sreedhar says, “The importance of Meewasin and mental health has truly been illuminated during COVID-19, and most of us can agree we are using the riverbank and the trails more than ever. I am one of many of many, using the trails to cope.”

Amy Wall, the Manager of Marketing and Fund Development at Meewasin says they’re so fortunate to have so many members of the community who are passionate about mental health and spending time in nature, including Frances.

Donations can be made through the Meewasin website or the CMHA website.