We've all had really great ideas. Few of us however, stick with those ideas long enough to really think them through. Fewer still do the research, take any necessary training, line up support, find any money needed, and finally turn the idea into reality.

Bob Parker made a commitment to an idea and followed through. That's why he is today's Neighbourhood Hero.

Parker is the manager of the BCAA office here in Nanaimo. With a large staff to manage, he's a busy man. He's also a man who is committed to child safety.

Until three years ago, the BCAA office in Vancouver sent people over to Nanaimo twice a year to run a well-promoted event where parents could have their children's car seats inspected to make sure they were properly installed. There was no charge for the service.

During these visits, they discovered that, time after time, 90% of these car seats were improperly installed. As you might expect, there were more minor problems than major but any one of them could have resulted in a child being unnecessarily injured had that car been involved in an accident.

The more Parker witnessed this inspection program, the more committed he became to it. Then the funding was cut and the program terminated.

Canceling this important service simply wouldn't do for Parker. With the support of his managers, he took the appropriate training and launched his own one-man children's car seat inspection program, a program that is offered in no other BC community, according to Rhoda Taylor, Program Coordinator of the Healthy Beginnings program in Duncan.

"Bob has been willing to travel throughout the region (including Lake Cowichan and Shawnigan Lake) to ensure that information and assistance with installations are available to all parents," Taylor continued. "He has been endlessly accommodating to families and, if he is in the office, he will do a free inspection on very short notice."

What?

That's right, with his manager's continuing support, if you drop into the Nanaimo BCAA office, Parker will do a 15 to 20 minute inspection to make sure your child's car seat is properly and safely installed.

That's major commitment to a cause. This is a man that follows through, a man that makes things happen.

But Parker's service doesn't stop there. There are a lot of grandparents on the Island whose children and grandchildren fly in for a vacation or arrive as foot passengers on the ferry.

What are they to do? They want their grandchildren to have car seats but seats are very expensive, especially if they are going to be used for only a short period of time.

Without even slipping into a nearby phone booth to make a costume change, BCAA's Bob Parker came to the rescue. He bought three excellent seats and keeps them in his office as "loaners".

That's right. Whether you are a BCAA client or not, you can give Parker a call and arrange to borrow a car seat during your grandchild's visit ... he'll even install it for you.

You may ask how this man can afford to take 20 minutes at a time out of a busy workday to help people with their child's car seat.

It's simple. He doesn't leave the office at 4:00, 4:30 or 5:00. He leaves when his work is done. He makes up the time. He also spends much of his free time, traveling the Mid-Island region to present car seat safety programs.

"It's worth it," he says, "just for those times when you mention a common problem and you see several pairs of eyes light up. You know they have been making that same mistake, the kind of mistake that could lead to a serious problem for a child."

Thanks Bob.