Be prepared for a rolling parade in Sechelt on Monday, June 9, when hundreds of children on bicycles fill the streets to support local Cops for Cancer riders in their quest to cure childhood cancer.
This year’s Sunshine Coast RCMP Cops for Cancer riders are constables Kevin Shepherd and Hwisong Kahng. They will lead students from elementary schools around the Coast who gather on June 9 on a parade route through the District starting at 12:30 p.m.
Students will meet at Hackett Park, ride down Dolphin Street to Inlet Avenue, along Inlet Avenue to Cowrie Street and then end at the Sechelt Learning Centre.
There students who take part will present a toonie each to the riders to go towards the constables’ goal of raising $12,000 to take part in the Cops for Cancer ride in September. Students will also enjoy a barbecue, games, draws and some fun challenges at the end of the parade.
“It’s to bring awareness to the effort and to raise money for Cops for Cancer, but it’s more about awareness,” Shepherd said. “It’s a good chance to get everybody together and show them what we’re doing.”
What the constables are doing is getting ready for the annual Cops for Cancer ride that sees more than 100 law enforcement and emergency services people from across B.C. cycle for up to two weeks to raise awareness about, and money for, childhood cancer research.
“There are a lot of kids on the Coast that maybe people aren’t aware of who are affected by cancer,” Shepherd said.
He wanted to get students involved in the Cops for Cancer effort somehow and posed the question during a meeting with principals. Soon Madeira Park Elementary School principal Barry Krangle came up with the bike parade plan.
School District No. 46 (SD46) was supportive of the idea, sending home permission forms with students, and the District Parents’ Advisory Committee chipped in $1,000 to cover the cost to bus students to Sechelt.
Shepherd said the Rotary Club of Sechelt offered their barbecue for the festivities at the end and the SD46 culinary arts students stepped up to run the grill.
RCMP will close intersections during the parade to keep the kids safe and teachers will pedal alongside students as well.
SD46 doesn’t anticipate the current unrest between teachers and the province to impact the ride.
“We’re going to do whatever is necessary to make that continue to happen,” said assistant superintendent of schools Greg Kitchen. “There may be some adjustments around supervision, but there are a lot of people involved in that and there’s lots of support for that event.”
