Cole Dimitroff is running every day to raise awareness and funds for the Bear Clan Patrol.

Dimitroff, who currently lives in Beausejour, says that four years ago his previous home, Cross Lake, was experiencing a "Suicide Pandemic" and Dimitroff was seeing many people lose hope.

"It broke my heart in any and every way possible to hear that a lot of my old friends were struggling greatly," Dimitroff says in his fundraising post. 

Dimitroff's mother was an RCMP officer and they lived on the Cross Lake First Nation reserve when he was in grades five to seven.

"That is where you make the most memories (with your childhood friends)," Dimitroff says.

"display: block;">Dimitroff is documenting his daily runs and plans to continue them "rain or shine" until the end of the month. (Cole Dimitroff/Twitter)Dimitroff was familiar with the Bear Clan Patrol beforehand as he works in Winnipeg and recently retired as a linebacker with the Winnipeg Rifles, and was touched by their gesture in 2016.

"I have been in complete awe of how great they are for not only our community of Winnipeg but also communities across our province."

Dimitroff is deciding to give back now that he is able to and is raising funds for the organization by doing something he does not regularly do.

Each day at 7 p.m. Dimitroff runs the perimeter of Beausejour, the equivalent of 10 k.ms, where he currently lives. He says it is "no easy task" and is dedicated to the cause.

"Sometimes I feel like every little bone you can feel in your foot, you would not notice how much your feet hurt when you run ten kilometres," Dimitroff says.

Dimitroff began his project on May 8 and will finish by the end of the month. He will be running for 21 days in a row.

He adds that some days it is "hard to breathe" but he gets through it. Dimitroff says he does not usually run, but wanted to prove that he is willing to "give back" to Bear Clan.