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Callum Wallace of Oakville plans to fly around the world in his plane next year to raise money for Home Suite Home, a charity that helps people with housing. Wallace is a real estate agent with a long-time passion for flying. He has kicked off his fundraising campaign and hopes to raise $1m by the time he takes off next May.Effie Siamalekas/Handout

The organizer: Callum Wallace

The pitch: Raising $1-million

The cause: Home Suite Hope

Callum Wallace has had a passion for aviation ever since he was a teenager, but he’d given up on his dream of becoming a pilot because of colour blindness.

Mr. Wallace, 27, went on to a become a real estate agent in Oakville, Ont., but a few years ago he heard about a special test he could take for his condition. If he passed, Transport Canada would allow him to attend flight school. He managed to pass and quickly got his pilot’s licence and bought a small aircraft.

He eventually traded up to a Beechcraft Bonanza, a single-engine plane large enough to fly for up to five hours at a time. Not content with short flights, Mr. Wallace soon started planning a trip around the world. He wanted to tie the journey to a charity and he settled on Home Suite Hope, an Oakville-based organization that helps single mothers overcome homelessness.

“I just thought, why not? I’ve put so much time into flying. It’s a personal challenge,” he said. “And at the same time, I’m able to give back and help somebody else out.”

Mr. Wallace plans to take off next May and he’s hoping to raise $1-million for the charity. Only 138 people have made the trip around the world alone in a single-engine plane and Mr. Wallace said he will be the fourth Canadian. The flight will take about three months and he plans to go eastward; through Greenland, Britain, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and back across the Pacific Ocean. He estimated that he’ll be in the air for more than 200 hours.

He has modified the Beachcraft to hold extra fuel tanks and he’s working with a British company that provides logistics in various countries. The war in Ukraine also means that he has to avoid Russian airspace. “That makes it a little more challenging,” he said. “But I always wanted to do it this way. It was always my goal to go this route.”

He’ll be spending the next months training and planning, while juggling his real estate work. “I’m pumped,” he said about the trip. “I wouldn’t say I’m ready at this point, but I will be.”

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