BY ROB LOWRIE
Special to the Driftwood
The Cycle of Life Tour (COLT) pulled into Salt Spring on Saturday, Aug. 26 with 85 cyclists. The annual group ride’s sole purpose is to raise funds to support local hospice care on Vancouver Island. That amounts to eight hospices, including Salt Spring Hospice.
Cyclists ride 200 kilometres in two days from Victoria to Crofton, come over to Salt Spring for an evening of celebration, fine buffet dining and camping at the Farmers’ Institute and then go back to Victoria the next day.
This is a banner year, as firstly, the group celebrated the tour’s 10th anniversary, and secondly, the riders raised more money than in any other year, $323,000 and still counting. The total raised over the ride’s 10 years amounts to a whopping $1.9 million.
Fundamental to COLT’s success is the ongoing participation of 50 volunteers from hospices all over Vancouver Island, including 15 from Salt Spring Hospice.
Sponsors have also come onboard in a big way. Think Communications, Country Grocer and Canadian Tire really get behind the ride, along with several other key sponsors.
Heidi Fink, Country Grocer’s signature chef and host of CHEK TV’s Cookin’ on the Coast orchestrated the hospice volunteers in creating a buffet feast for the riders.
Funds raised by the COLT event give a huge boost to the hospices’ much-needed community fundraising to offer compassionate end-of-life care and address the needs of the bereaved. Each year, Vancouver Island hospices support 12,000 patients and family members.
To support the COLT, visit CycleofLifeTour.ca.