This year's Cops for Cancer Tour for a Friend will hit the Sunshine Coast on Monday morning.
The riders plan a stop at the Blackfish Pub for a quick photo shoot and presentation before making their way to Powell River.
The ride will be back in Sechelt on Tuesday evening for a Rotary dinner at Rockwood and then a Lions Club breakfast in Gibsons on Wednesday morning before heading towards the Lower Mainland to continue the tour.
The Tour for a Friend begins today (Sept. 18) with a special opening ceremony in Surrey. On Sunday, the group of riders stops in Pemberton, Whistler and Squamish. Following the events on the Coast, the tour continues with stops in North Vancouver, Burnaby, Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge. The tour concludes Sept. 25 in Vancouver with closing ceremonies at Vancouver city hall.
The Tour for a Friend is a seven-day, 600 km bike ride to raise funds for pediatric cancer research and Camp Goodtimes, a camp for children who are experiencing or have experienced cancer.
The Tour for a Friend team consists of 17 RCMP and municipal police officers representing each community in the Greater Vancouver area. Each cyclist is paired with a child who has experienced cancer and who participates as a honourary team member.
This year, constables Chris Pillsworth and Kurt Rosenberg will represent the Sunshine Coast RCMP on this ride. The tour buddy for the local constables is a young girl by the name of Rene.
Rosenberg said fund-raising for the ride is going well and he hopes that more donations will be made as the tour stops.The final major fund-raising event planned for this year is the annual Ladies' Night scheduled for Sept. 30. Once again the event has been sold out.
Those wishing to make donations for the Cops for Cancer campaign, either prizes for ladies' night or cash donations, can do so at either the Sechelt or Gibsons RCMP detachments.
The Cops for Cancer partnership with the Canadian Cancer Society has raised more than $2.7 million in B.C. and the Yukon since 1994.
