In March, members of the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove volunteered with You Can Ride 2 at one of our bike fitting days, experiencing the excitement and wonder that biking brings to families of children with special needs. They were in awe at the volunteerism that was completed to keep the program running. Barry Twynam, Community Services Director of the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove, identified that YCR2 could benefit from more exposure and funding. The Club chose YCR2 to be the beneficiary of the live auction portion of their annual Lobsterfest fundraiser. The live auction was a new event, so we were unsure how much would be raised. Barry and his daughter Devan Twynam put together a compelling video for the evening of the fundraiser.
On the night of the fundraiser, Janine Halayko, Melanie Harris, Trent Magis, the core volunteers that have driven YCR2 from the beginning and have been key to its success, took the stage and answered questions before the floor opened for bidding. In about 7 minutes, $90,000 was raised!
Thanks so much to the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove and the amazing generosity of the community members who were at the fundraiser that night. Spruce Grove is not a big city but they obviously can do very big things!
Thank you also to Inclusion Alberta (formerly Alberta Association for Community Living) for helping to make this fundraiser for YCR2 possible.
Additional Supporters
We would also like to recognize and thank these additional sponsors of YCR2:
- Inclusion Alberta (formerly Alberta Association for Community Living) is one of our major partners, enabling much of our fundraising.
- This year's three fitting events were sponsored by the Beverly Optimist Club, the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove, the Urban Systems Foundation, and the Rotary Club of Sherwood Park.
- Thanks to Inclusion Alberta (formerly Alberta Association for Community Living), one of our major partners
- Make Something Edmonton paid for our head mechanic and Edmonton's NextGen & Edmonton Awesome Foundation funded the innovations in adaptive cycling being created by Speronetics.
Over 40 pediatric physiotherapists, occupational therapists and adapted phys ed consultants have also volunteered with the program this year.
Other generous financial donors also include:
- Mountain Equipment Co-op - $5275 in grants and product
- Beverly Optimist Club - $5000 grant + volunteering at event #3
- Edmonton Cerebral Palsy Association - bike purchases
- Children’s Ability Fund - $2500 for bike mods
- Jubilee Auditorium, front of house staff - $2000
- Make Something Edmonton - $1500 grant for head mechanic
- Rotary Club of Spruce Grove - $1500 & volunteering at event #1
- Urban Systems Foundation - $1500 + volunteering at event #2
- Edmonton Awesome Foundation - $1000 grant for remote and power assist project
- Rotary Club of Sherwood Park - $1000 & volunteering at event #2
- Edmonton’s NextGen - $800 grant for remote braking project
Product donations/transportation
- Sandwich & Sons - catering for event #2 (value >$500)
- Strider Sports Canada - 3 bikes (value >$300)
- Lexon Projects Inc - transportation of bikes at each of the events (value >$500)
- Western Cycle - bells and 20% discount on product (value <$50)
- Red Bike - bells (value <$50)
- United Cycle - discounts on product
Storage/venue assistance
- Broxton Park School - venue for try a bike day and fitting #1
- City of Edmonton (River Valley Programs, Fleet Services) - main storage location, available for repair days
- Elves Special Needs Society - venue for fitting #3
- Robin Hood Association - venue for fitting #2 and fall return event
- Sintra Engineering - temporary storage
- Quantum Chemical - secondary storage location, available for repair days
Service donations
- Bruce Geiger, Miller Thomson LLP - legal advice
- Cerebral Palsy Association of Alberta - administrative assistance
- KidSport Edmonton - partnership to support low income families
- Paralympic Sports Association - tax receipts for donated bikes
- Revolution Cycle - mechanic assistance at 3 events
- Cranky's Bike Shop - mechanic assistance at 1 event
- Mud Sweat and Gears - mechanic assistance at 1 event