CLUB: WHEELING FOR THE KIDS
Braving the ice at the Kelowna Toy Run
ON AN ICY MORNING, with the mercury diving well below 0°C, Editor Irons and I arrived at the meeting location in Stinky Jeep. Tim the Toyota (FJ40) was pulled apart in Irons shop and couldn’t come out and play; Eco Zuk… well let’s not even go there.
The Salvation Army was set up with their trailer, trading toys and cash donations for coffee and hot chocolate, a grateful gift on the cold early morning.
The rigs were coming in by the dozens, with a fantastic mix of genres, including new, old, battered, pristine, stock, six-figure snow wheelers, 2WD, 4WD, imports and domestics. The entire off-roading world was represented, from “just rolled out of the barn” rednecks to snobby overlanders and everyone in between. It was the United Nations General Assembly of Wheelers, however, we weren’t there to solve all the world’s problems, and it didn’t take long for the mingling to start. In all, 392 vehicles answered the call, with many more showing up midday making this the biggest Kelowna Toy Run yet.
The donation table was
When it was all said and done, the Salvation Army raised $3,590 in the kettle and participants donated 314 toys for the kids. Despite a few rigs needing help making it home, the Toy Run continues to be a great success.
This year the organisers will continue the Toy Run tradition and are also going to collect food for the Salvation Army food bank along with toy donations.
Get more incredible images of these winter wheelers in the Readers Rides feature at the end of this issue.