OTTAWA -- A one of a kind, inspirational fundraiser for the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) is taking place in the Ottawa Valley. An 82-year-old man is walking from Beachburg, Ont. to Ottawa to raise thousands of dollars.

Russell MacKay is affectionately known as "Papa." He set off on his 125 km journey Monday. He's calling it "Papa Walks 4 Kids." His goal is to get to Ottawa by Sept. 3 and raise $25,000 for CHEO along the way.

More than 80 per cent of that goal was raised on the first day.

"I was home for Father’s Day and he was talking to us about leaving money for CHEO in his will," says daughter and walk organizer Crystal MacKay. "We all agreed, why don’t you give it to them now? He said, ‘Well, you know, I want to walk to Ottawa’, so the rest is history, as they say."

The 82-year-old MacKay is diabetic and legally blind. He walks every day to keep his diabetes in check and says he was inspired to help the kids at CHEO after visiting the hospital for eye specialist appointments.

"There was a little boy, and the father and the mother were there, and the little boy said ‘daddy don’t leave me, don’t leave me’," MacKay says. "Well I’m kind of close to kids. We got great grandchildren too. And that hit me, like tears came in my eyes because I thought that little fella you know...”

It is those heart wrenching scenes that now drive MacKay forward.

"That started the idea of saying, ‘I’m going to do something to help the kids’," Crystal MacKay said. "I think it’s extra inspirational if you think about just the power of an individual to help other people, regardless of your age or whatever conditions you’re facing to say you can always dig deep and help somebody else,"

MacKay often walks up to eight kilometres a day to help keep his blood sugar levels low. The walks also allow him to socialize and now they have prepared Papa for his big walk.

"If anybody says they want to walk from Beachburg to Ottawa, regardless of if they’re 20 or 80, it’s a big undertaking. Then you add the fact that he is legally blind and a diabetic then it kind of is monumental. Then the fact that he’s 82," says Crystal MacKay.

The gesture has not gone unnoticed at CHEO.

"It means so much to everybody at CHEO because it’s communities like Beachburg, Cobden, Renfrew, and Pembroke, and these are place that kids come from in need of the care that CHEO provides," says Kevin Keohane, president and CEO of the CHEO Foundation. "When I think of Russell, I know that the positioning was that he’s 82-years-old, he’s legally blind, he has diabetes, but the man you meet, he’s full of energy, full of life, determined. I have no doubt he’s going to complete this."

You can find a link to the fundraiser on the CHEO Foundation website.