For this father of three boys – John Davidson's commitment started with his middle son Jesse who at the time was 14 years old. Jesse suffers from Duchene Muscular Dystrophy; the most fatal of more than 40 neuromuscular diseases and one that strikes boys almost exclusively. Most of these young boys have great difficulty in reaching a third decade of life.

For John Davidson – it quickly became clear that research was the avenue to hope.

The Foundation for Gene and Cell Therapy which the public soon came to known as Jesse's Journey was granted charitable status by the government of Canada and set out to embrace ethical, credible standards in raising, investing and distributing funds for research.

Jesse's Journey moved onto the public stage in the summer of 1995 when John Davidson pushing his son Jesse in his wheelchair – crossed Ontario . The 3,339-kilometre, four-month odyssey raised $1.3 million for research.

Striving for the lowest possible operating costs and the greatest possible contribution to research and discovery – Jesse's Journey began to literally walk its talk when it comes to funding research. And Ontario wasn't the end of the road.

Knowing that research is expensive and wanting to conduct all its affairs with the highest attainable degree of accountability and transparency – Jesse's Journey moved to the next level.

It's 8,272 kilometres from Canada 's east coast to the west coast – not quite as the crow flies but more or less as the Trans-Canada Highway runs – with a few detours. And maintaining a philosophy of excellence in everything that it does – Jesse's Journey and John Davidson knows every step of the way.

The 52-year-old London, Ontario father walked the route, step by step, for 286 days– raising $2,000,000 to launch the Jesse Davidson Endowment Fund – bringing Jesse's Journey closer to being able to provide the research community with at least $1,000,000 a year, every year, forever. That's the legacy that John Davidson wants to see in a world where we sometimes do not get to keep our children forever.

Jesse's Journey upholds the maximum level of responsibility and respect for donors, volunteers, staff and all who support the journey while at the same time endorsing worldwide collaboration among researchers with emphasis on neuromuscular disease.

Having invested more than $1,550,000 in research in Canada and the United States from the constantly growing endowment fund – Jesse's Journey continues to foster greater public awareness of discoveries in genetic knowledge, especially concerning projects funded by supporters of the journey. We thank the thousands donors across Canada – in the United States and around the world who have joined the “journey team” and who support our quest to find the treatment and cure that gave rise to the existence of Jesse's Journey – because after all ……. it's your journey too!