Hey all. This is a little late in the game but I wanted to get the word out to as many enthusiasts as possible! I would like to extend an invitation to anyone and everyone for a Memorial Car Cruise that I am organizing for April 15.

The event is called Cruise for Your Cause. It’s a car cruise in memory of my dad who passed away last April. He was a car aficionado who circuit raced open wheel dirt track cars to 1/4 mile *****'s back in the day. Among his pride and joy was a '67 Mailbu SS. He was a stickler for details and always found time to help out a friend who was in need. He had battled with numerous health issues along the way for almost 30 years, been a Kidney transplant/dialysis patient for at least half that time period, and never lost Hope throughout the whole struggle. After many, many years of fighting with his health issues, his body finally succumbed to the hardships in April 2011.

What I am planning to is have a memorial Cruise to remember my dad. I know there are many other people out there who have lost someone special or who may be currently struggling with any variety of issues, and would maybe like to keep the memory alive as well. I want to also provide an opportunity for anyone and everyone who may have a special or unique ride, to dust the cobwebs off and start off the driving season with a purpose and a chance at making a difference in someone else's life by doing something that we all personally enjoy....to drive!!

The purpose behind this cruise however is to showcase and highlight the many diverse and special needs that make up our community and needs abroad. There is no one organization that can save the world, as much as we all would love for that to happen. We all have a different story and I would like for all of us to share that story. I would like to offer up the opportunity to show to everyone that we can, and will, support the needs of those around us by donating to a cause that you feel compelled to give to. That's right...you choose to support your cause. And then bring out your car, truck, daily driver, custom cruiser, bike or anything with a motor and wheels, and let's go for a cruise to share our stories and remember those special people around us.

There has also been a lot of positive interest and variety in supported foundations so far. I would like to hear about the different ways you have been affected, but so far some of the supported foundations during this Cruise include:

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Kidney Disease
Hope Foundation of Alberta
Muscular Dystrophy
Cancer
Heart & Stroke
Leukemia
Organ Donation
Diabetes
Friends in Need Foodbank
Autism Canada
Brain Tumour Foundation

And I know that there are more people affected by a seemingly endless list so please let me know how your life, or someone close to you, has been affected.

The route that I have chosen will be, I think, quite enjoyable to drive. It is a grand total of 200kms through the Lower Mainland and approx 4 ˝ hours driving time. Since my dad was an active member on the Millet, Alberta Fire Department, I thought it was necessary to have some local Fire Departments involved in this Cruise so I have thankfully received support from the Richmond and Langley City Fire Departments to use their respective Halls as two of the Pitstops along the route. There is a “scenic” stop planned on the water in White Rock (Blackie Spit) and a “car-nut” Pitstop at Mission Raceway (sorry, no runs down the strip this year!). I plan to start the Cruise at 1000 at the BC Kidney Foundation in Burnaby and finish in Coquitlam at LaFarge Lake around 1630. A fair warning to all who are not fond of the "twisties"...the last section in Mission/Maple Ridge is full of them!!! ;-) The rest of the route has pretty much everything you could imagine in a Cruise, including highway to country-poke to waterfront! Detailed route information and itinerary can be found on my website, www.cruiseforyourcause.org as well as the Google Maps link posted below.

If you are at all interested in attending this Cruise, please post up with your name and who/what you would be cruising for. I would like to keep track of how many different organizations are supported and then post up the final tally after the Cruise on my website. The website address is www.cruiseforyourcause.org . I have also setup a page on Facebook for those who prefer that route, which you can find if you search Cruise for Your Cause.

I would also like to suggest a food donation that will go towards the Friends in Need Foodbank that the Pitt Meadows Fire Department fully supports.

I would like to make a quick note. I realize this Cruise is the same weekend as the Vancouver Sun Run so that may affect the numbers quite a lot. The goal for this Cruise is to raise awareness and show the diversity of the needs affecting our communities, as well as remembering those who have been affected. If your time has already been devoted to another occasion during this weekend, I commend you on the time spent with family/friends/garage floor and would not wish for anything different. I would, however, still like to hear your story on how your life has been influenced, and what your support would be directed to. The plan is then to post any and all organizations/foundations/charities/causes on my website to show how broad our community reaches in its support.

Thank you for taking the time to read this thread. Again, if you are interested in attending, please let me know as I would be glad to have you out for a drive. I hope to make this an annual event and the start of something unique and special.



http://maps.google.ca/maps?saddr=200...17,18&t=h&z=10


Cheers!

 

A small donation was made to the Kidney foundation of Canada. Good luck with the event.

Thank you.
Tim

 

Thank you so much Tim, very much appreciated. It's too bad you're out in the big TO...would love to have to you Cruise along next weekend.

 

April 15 Itinerary

For those who want to meetup partway through the route and plan the rest of their day! I will be in Burnaby at the start location around 0930 so feel free to show up anytime after that. I am going to do my best to stay close to the schedule for those who are wanting to join up partway through the Cruise. These times should be fairly easy to maintain as I test-drove the route during rush-hour traffic on a Wed afternoon and had no problems keeping to what Google mentioned so these should work fine. So these departure times will be SHARP! If you happen to miss a departure, please either follow the route to the next Pitstop or join us as soon as you can.

A - 1000 - leave BC Kidney Foundation (Burnaby) to arrive at Richmond Fire Hall #4 around 1110

B - 1130 - leave Richmond Fire Hall #4 to arrive at Blackie Spit (White Rock) around 1210

C - 1230 - leave Blackie Spit to arrive at Langley Fire Hall around 1320

LUNCHBREAK

D - 1400 - leave Langley Fire Hall to arrive at Mission Raceway around 1450

E - 1515 - leave Mission Raceway to arrive LaFarge Lake (Coquitlam) around 1630

1630 onwards - linger around as long as you like at LaFarge Lake. There is a huge playground for the kids; obviously a lake nearby with paved trails; concession "might" be open as I do not know their operating hours at the moment; and of course, just hang out, check out the cars, chat with new aquintances and take pictures/videos of whatever you like!

 

Blackie Spit is actually in Crescent Beach, not White Rock.

John in Vancouver

 

Well, it's looking like the weather might actually hold off on the rain for us on Sunday! I'm expecting a pretty decent turnout too. If everyone who has mentioned that they will attend, show up at some point on Sunday, we'll be edging very close to 30 cars if not more!!

I just want to make a quick note for anyone planning on starting at the Burnaby location...there is a couple entrances to the parking lot where we are meeting. If you hate speedbumps (like myself) then go just a bit further down Ledger ave, past a Union building parking lot, and there is another entrance to the Kidney Foundation parking lot with no speedbumps, west side of Ledger Ave. Either entrance you take, it will be on the NORTH side of the building. Sounds a bit confusing, but it's not bad once you get there. There will be a small tent/info booth for the Kidney Foundation set up in the parking lot and I will be driving my black Caliber SRT4 so come and find me. The parking lots will be empty aside from us so it will be easy to find.

If people are meeting partway through the Cruise, the rest of the locations are easy to navigate. The Langley City Firehall is doing training in their back lot so if there is not enough room in the front of the Hall, there will be an empty ICBC lot next door that we will utilize and a Tim Hortons right beside for lunch!

I will also have a bunch of water and some snacks for people to have throughout the Cruise. I will have maps and itineraries printed out as well if anyone doesn't bring one.

A thought that I had as well would be to bring out any hand held FRS 2-way radios so that we could maybe keep in touch during the Cruise if anyone was into that at all. I wouldn't expect any "need" for them, just an idea if someone wants to bring one along.

I'm really looking forward to Sunday...it should be nice and casual and lots of fun meeting new people and checking out all the cars!
Thanks again for all the support and we'll see you all on Sunday!
Cheers!
Travis

 

Well, I finally managed to get some pictures hosted on Webshots as well as my Facebook pages.

Webshots can be found at this link:
http://rides.webshots.com/album/582655493lCLZBr

My collection of pics from my family cameras can be found at this link:
http://www.facebook.com/cruiseforyourcause

As well as another album with a ton of pictures, thanks to Tim, can be found through this link:
http://www.facebook.com/travisbowering

Thanks again for everyone who participated and supported the Cruise! It was an excellent turnout with a total of 32 different cars and an average of 20 cars that stayed with the Cruise the whole day. The rain held off, new friends were made and new roads were travelled. Enjoy, and keep your eyes peeled for info on next years event that will be bigger and better!!

 

Nice pics, looked like a good turnout.