Bike ride boosts charities
An annual three-day, 385km bike ride has raised $145,000 for nine South Canterbury charities.
Central South Island Charity Bike Ride chairman Max Munro said what made the gruelling ride worth it was listening to the heartbreaking stories and words of gratitude from the recipients after presenting the cheques at a gathering on Thursday.
‘‘We get a little bit of pain but these guys handle pain all the time.’’
Hospice South Canterbury was the cornerstone recipient with $43,200 – capping off a successful week for the charity, which had received $105,000 from the Caroline Bay Rock and Hop.
The ride raised $21,800 each for Family Works and Life Education Trust, $14,500 for Alzheimers, $10,900 each for Heart Kids and YMCA, and $7300 each for the Graeme Dingle Foundation, Fairlie’s Moreh Home, and Multiple Sclerosis.
With all 120 cyclists required to raise at least $500 ahead of the loop from Timaru to Tekapo, to Kurow, and back to Timaru – their efforts brought the total amount raised over the event’s 15 years to $1.97 million.
‘‘It took us 10 years to raise the first million and now we hope to hit the $2 million mark next year.
‘‘We are really, really pleased with the response we get from the whole of the region. It’s a combo of everyone working together to pull together to make this the success it is.’’
While the amount raised was down from last year’s $153,000, Munro said ‘‘we’re really comfortable with what we get’’. ‘‘We don’t want all the money. There’s a lot of other organisations out there raising money, and they’re all doing it for good causes.’’
Munro encouraged people of ‘‘all shapes, sizes, ages’’ to give the bike ride a go.
‘‘Once you get involved in it you’ll make a lot of really great friends, tick off some boxes. It doesn’t matter what your walk in life is.’’