The Lou MacEachern Fund – Building a Video Library with CAREERS: The Next Generation
Al McMillan
Last Fall, our Club partnered with CAREERS to help in their mission to connect youth to high demand skilled trades in Alberta. The Lou MacEachern Fund is now supporting a new digital initiative created by Careers to build the Lou MacEachern Video Library which will be home to a new Day-in-The-Life-of-a-Journeyperson Video Series. The Library is named in honor of long time Rotarian Lou MacEachern, and the video collection will introduce youth to skilled trades through short videos that showcase the working lives of tradespeople. The videos will be used in CAREERS’ strong career awareness initiatives, with strong ties to youth career exploration, mentorship, and workforce readiness, and will be promoted locally in the Calgary region on YouTube and Instagram.
Lou MacEachern’s journey—from a potato farmer to successful Calgary businessman and lifelong community advocate—embodies the very spirit of what CAREERS strives to achieve: helping young people discover opportunity through hands-on experience and perseverance. A dedicated kickoff video highlights Lou’s story and is one of the three videos produced this year. Links to the videos are included in the 2025 Lou MacEachern Report.
In 2026 we will fund three more videos, and CAREERS will create a new webpage providing linkage to the Lou MacEachern Video Library and the Video Series. On behalf of our Club, Small Donations leads initiatives that fulfill Lou’s long-term vision of supporting the education and development of youth and young adults with proceeds donated to our Club by the Lou MacEachern Fund. To learn more about CAREERS, please visit their website at https://www.careersnextgen.ca/.
