Wendy Wright (right), event co-ordinator for the regional office of the Heart and Stroke Foundation in Kelowna, visited Osoyoos 10 days ago for a presentation confirming Osoyoos will host its inaugural Big Bike For Heart and Stroke fundraising event on May 9 next spring. Jennifer Herd, a receptionist at the Sunshine Ridge Retirement Residence, worked tirelessly with Wright to ensure the event would come to Osoyoos. Team captains are asked to sign up their teams online in the coming weeks and months. (Keith Lacey photo)
A community event that puts the word “fun” in fundraiser is coming to Osoyoos for the first time next May.
Thanks to the hard work of local organizer Jennifer Herd, a receptionist at the Sunshine Ridge Retirement Residence in Osoyoos, the regional office of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada has announced Osoyoos will play host to the Big Bike event on May 9, 2018.
Wendy Wright, event co-ordinator for the Heart and Stroke Foundation regional office in Kelowna, paid a visit to Sunshine Ridge recently to discuss the upcoming event and how Big Bike for Heart and Stroke has become one of that organization’s biggest and most successful fundraising events.
For the uninitiated, Big Bike is literally that – a 2,000-pound bicycle that can seat a maximum of 29 participants, who ride through town to have a good time and raise money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
“It’s literally one ton of fun,” said Wright, during her presentation.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Big Bike in Canada and there are approximately 600 communities across Canada that hold similar events, said Wright.
The Big Bike for Heart and Stroke raises $8 million annually across Canada, she said.
There are two bikes that are used in British Columbia and dozens of communities across the province that hold Big Bike fundraising events, she said.
She credited and thanked Herd for being the driving force behind applying for and working behind the scenes to ensure Osoyoos would be hosting a Big Bike for Heart and Stroke event in this community in only a few months.
“It’s very, very rare that someone like Jennifer steps up to the plate to represent an entire community,” she said. “It’s huge what you’ve already done in getting this thing organized here in Osoyoos.”
Virtually everyone who participates in the Big Bike event has a wonderful time, said Wright.
“It’s the most fun fundraising program I’ve ever been involved in,” she said.
Participants raise funds by getting friends, family and co-workers to make pledges or making a personal donation to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, she said.
On event day, teams can ride the Big Bike through town for roughly 20 to 25 minutes over a two-kilometre course.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation will provide the driver to steer the Big Bike through town, she said.
“All you need is a team captain,” she said. “We need a minimum of 14 people to make the bike move and you must be at least 14 years of age. Unfortunately, we can’t budge on that age limit because of liability issues. The bike can hold a maximum of 29 riders.”
The Heart and Stroke Foundation has raised more than $1.45 billion in funds since its formation 62 years ago and has helped fund numerous ground-breaking medical research projects that have led to crucial breakthroughs into the cause and treatment of heart disease and stroke, said Wright.
More than 1.6 million Canadians suffer from or have strong risk factors that could lead to heart disease or stroke, so it’s crucial that events like Big Bike raise the money needed to continue medical research, she said.
“But there has been a 75 per cent decline in heart disease and stroke since we started back in 1962,” she said. “That’s very encouraging … but we still have a long way to go.”
The regional chapter of the Heart and Stroke Foundation has helped pay for 170 Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in the Kootenay and Okanagan regions over the past several years, including the ones now available at Town Hall, the Sonora Community Centre and the Town’s public works yard, said Wright.
“Our goal is to have AEDs sitting beside every fire extinguisher across Canada,” she said. “They should literally be everywhere because they work and they save lives.
The Big Bike event in Osoyoos on May 9 will begin around 11 a.m. and will continue until 5 or 6 p.m., depending on local interest and the number of teams that sign up, said Wright.
A promotional tent will be set up at the start-finish line by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and water and snacks will also be provided to all participants, she said.
The majority of teams are made up of co-workers from different businesses, but there have been teams signed up with members from the same family, teams formed to honour loved ones and teammates from various sports teams, she said.
Each team is asked to raise or donate a minimum of $1,000.
Herd said a team from Sunshine Ridge has signed up and is ready to roll and she’s confident there will be great response in Osoyoos with hopefully dozens of teams signing up.
Team captains are asked to sign up online by visiting www.bigbike.ca.
All of the information needed to register a team can be found on that website, she said.
Team captains are asked to recruit team members, encourage online activity, get teammates excited about the event and drive fundraising, she said.
The exact route that will be followed in Osoyoos will be announced at a later date, said Wright.
Once team captains sign up, Wright said she will personally stay in regular contact with them and help them through the process of selecting a team and getting ready for the event in May.
If anyone needs more information, they can contact Wright at her office in Kelowna at 1-250-313-8090.
Wright can forward promotional items and posters to team captains in Osoyoos.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
