The Cops for Cancer Tour de North fundraising bike ride couldn’t be pinned down for Josh Clark. The Quesnel RCMP officer was planning on biking a northern leg from Prince George to Prince Rupert, which changed to riding from Quesnel to Prince George and then to only riding around Quesnel.
The changes were due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Instead of focusing on kilometres, Clark toured around Quesnel, visiting landmarks and sponsors.
“It didn’t end up becoming a kilometres thing,” he said. “It was completely different, which was OK for my legs because I wasn’t expecting to be great at biking.”
READ MORE: Quesnel cop preparing to ride for a cause
Clark has raised nearly $2,000 of his $3,000 goal.
“Businesses and people arn’t willing to, able to or allowed to fundraise in the same capacity that you normally are, just based off of groups,” he said.
Charities across Canada have seen revenues decline as the pandemic reduces disposable income and impulse purchases.
READ MORE: Quesnel Lions Club’s fundraising takes pandemic hit
“You don’t have as many people that throw [in] five bucks, 20 bucks,” Clark said. “People are more likely to do that in person than they are going to a website, filling out forms. It’s taken on a whole different view.”
With the pandemic affecting the usual fundraising methods, Clark has appealed to the stomachs of Quesnel.
“I recruited my mom to make a lot of perogies,” he said. “That was how I got the bulk of my donations — bribing people with perogies.”
Clark is still accepting donations through his work email, Joshua.Clark@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.
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