His last ride.

In honour of Martin Streek who unbelievably passed away July 6th 2009, I would like to tell you about what some of his listeners and friends did to bring more meaning to Martin's last ride.
The Ride to Conquer Cancer benefiting The Princess Margaret, is a cycling journey from Toronto to Niagara Falls -
You may not know who Martin Streek is, but I'll tell you what I have learned.
People in Southern Ontario and Northwestern New York plus many bands and musicians all over the world know of Martin Streek as a music man, a funny man, a DJ, and a radio host for about two decades at CFNY /The Edge...
Martin was the life of the party and the holder and guardian of modern musical knowledge. He worked at the radio station with George Stroumboulopoulos and Alan Cross (who are also music guardians) amongst others.
Alan Cross wrote a post about Martin to honour him the day after he passed.
Alan was spot on! I was lucky to have met Martin Streek this past year and he was one of the most charming men I have ever met!
He had me laughing and dancing in my seat and shocked me with his outrageous opinions which I admired him for... I was just sitting beside him watching him do Live From The Velvet Underground but for technical reasons he was doing it Live from The Edge Studios instead... We practically had him to ourselves, plus the listening audience, it was an unforgettable evening!
I am new to Ontario so meeting Martin Streek in person was another 'hello nice to meet you' and I had no expectations about him. I had no idea what a legend the man was. He has had thousands of fans that grew up listening to him. He told me he has been doing this for 18 years and only 4 times did they have a technical glitch like that, forcing him to improvise a different way to broadcast his show. He showed me what a dedicated professional and geekishly knowledgeable radio host he was...

I later learned from his listeners what an influence he has been to them throughout their youth and up until the point The Edge let him go...
That was a 'kick in the head' shock when we heard that.

Then months later when I heard from twitter, of all places, that Martin had killed himself. The source on twitter being Torontomike, I could not believe it. No one wanted to believe it.

Like many that knew of Martin I joined a facebook group Martin Streek - RIP and found fellow fans, friends, negative people and positive people... that's where I noticed the efforts of Gregg Gleason to do something positive. He started a topic thread on that group.
Martin's Ride to Conquer Cancer.
and this is what Gregg suggested....

Post #1

Gregg Gleason (Brock University) wrote on July 8, 2009 at 10:54am

http://www.conquercancer.ca/site/TR/Events/Toronto2009?px=1738628&pg=personal&fr_id=1261

One of Martin's latest charity events was the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation Ride to Conquer Cancer. According to his personal page on that website, his fundraising goal was not met; it currently sits at 47%. Can we finally meet his goal by pledging and contributing to this charity? Visit the link above to sponsor his ride.

People got inspired to do as Gregg suggested... they donated and they spread the word. When I found this thread I jumped on the bandwagon because I knew it was going the right direction... We made donations and encouraged donations in the amount you may spend on a night out... It took 5 days but we reached the goal of 2,500$.

There are 17,500 fans that joined that facebook page, we could do more still!

I congratulated Gregg and asked what inspired him to start this.

This is what he said:

How was I inspired? I think many of us (listeners) knew that he was doing the "Ride" because he promoted it over the radio frequently (while he was still on the air up until mid-May).

Last week, I wondered if he actually got to do that ride, so I searched his name on the ride web site. What I found was that the ride had passed, and sadly, that he had not reached his "goal". I felt that although he made a significant contribution to the cause through his fundraising effort, the amount raised was seemingly relatively little considering the time and effort he spent promoting the event.

I still don't know for sure if he did the ride, but the man that "built his bike" (Christian, blog post commenter at this website http://www.torontomike.com/2009/07/martin_streek_dead.html#comment-91084 ) might know more.

Oftentimes, when a person dies, people look to make a donation to a charity in the deceased person's name. What better cause to donate to than one Martin had recently selected himself? Better, one that showed he had a goal yet-to-be-achieved. This was motivation in itself..... Before my donation, the goal was at 47% achieved. The rest is history....

And there you have it, as of July 13th 100% achieved but why stop there? It's still going higher! Sponsor Martin Streek

**NEW! another perspective on this same story from the Princess Margaret Hospital. The article appears on the bottom left section of the newsletter.

For those in the area that wish to honour Martin Streek there are a number of events found online that you can attend or participate in.

Our condolences to Martin's family, friends, and listeners.

Maybe you know someone who suffers from depression, either situational or clinical, and needs help, here is a link to Canada's suicide & Crisis Hotlines