From Quesnel to Nazko, law enforcement rode their bicycles on Wednesday, June 15, to a small rural school to raise funds and awareness for Cops for Cancer.
Starting at 8:30 a.m. Quesnel RCMP Cpl. Steve Pelletier drove a police vehicle to safely lead Cst. Anne Bock, Cst. Rob Belanger and BC Sheriff Service Supt. Peter Wharton nearly 100 kilometres to Nazko Valley Elementary School.
Once arriving in Nazko in the afternoon, Bock said they held a “tape the teacher to the wall” event where Mr. V bravely stepped up and later chatted with all the kids regarding healthy life choices such as cutting down on eating sugar, exercising and wearing sunscreen.
Principal Chris Vandaelle said duct tape was sold by the foot to tape him to an exterior door.
“If they could pull the chairs out from under my feet and have me stay on the door, they won,” Vandaelle said, laughing. “Lots of folks had fun buying duct tape and sticking it on me. But, in the end, I stayed up.”
Vandaelle believes many students robbed their piggy banks to support Cops For Cancer, which raises funds for paediatric cancer research and sends children and their families affected by cancer to Camp Goodtimes.
More than $100, mostly in loonies and toonies, was raised.
Read More: Motorcycle ride from McLeese Lake to Quesnel supports paediatric cancer research
“We weren’t able to raise a huge amount of money, but I think the money that was raised came from the heart,” Vandaelle added, noting the small school in which approximately 30 students attend has welcomed Cops for Cancer riders in the past, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We always really appreciate role models and folks willing to get involved with our learning—to take the time from other communities to come and visit us. That’s something we really missed over the last couple of years, so students were very excited.”
This year’s Cops For Cancer Tour de North will run from Sept. 14-20, with participants cycling from Dawson Creek to Williams Lake.
Bock reminds the public they are required to leave a minimum of one metre of distance on all sides of a bike, and that bikes are expected to follow the same road rules as vehicles, which means they may ride in the lane if the shoulder is too rough, non-existent or too covered in debris to ride safely.
“So far this year, I have biked 6,059 kilometres with 67,810 metres of elevation gain and going strong,” Bock said. “I am hoping to continue this trend throughout the rest of the year, and am very much hoping not to be hit by vehicles during my journey!”
To learn more about Cops for Cancer and how you can support the annual fundraising event, visit Cops for Cancer - Tour de North on Facebook or online at https://support.cancer.ca/site/SPageServer/?pagename=COPS_NW_homepage.
Read More: Tour de North getting ready to hit the road again to benefit sick kids
Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email: rebecca.dyok@quesnelobserver.com
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