25th annual Tour de Rock raises more than $1M for cancer research

The 25th annual Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock raised a total of just over $1 million for pediatric cancer research, and a large chunk of that total came from one of the stops riders made on their final push through Greater Victoria Friday.

In 18 years of fundraising for the tour, Reynolds Secondary School in Saanich had raised a total of $946,000. This year, the school's goal was $54,000, to get them to $1 million total.

After greeting the riders like rock stars Friday afternoon, students and supporters in the packed gymnasium learned the school's total: $110,246 – more than double the goal, and easily enough to put them over the $1 million mark all time.

After greeting the riders like rock stars Friday afternoon, students and supporters in the packed gymnasium learned the school's total: $110,246 – more than double the goal, and easily enough to put them over the $1 million mark all time.

Anna McMillan, who rode in this year's tour representing CTV News Vancouver Island, said she was blown away by the Reynolds Secondary cheque presentation.

"That made me cry," she said. "It's amazing."

Reynolds Secondary, as it turns out, is really good at raising money for the tour.

“We’ve done car washes, we did a bottle drive, there’s been tonnes of bake sales,” said Berlin Purves, a Grade 10 student at the school.

All across Vancouver Island, riders have received warm welcomes and donations large and small.

“There’s something special about Vancouver Island and the people that live here,” said McMillan.

Earlier in the day Friday, the team stopped at Shoreline Middle School in View Royal, where a Grade 9 student and cancer survivor named Charlotte thanked the team for everything they do.

The team rides, while the community fundraises. The middle school raised over $1,300 for Tour De Rock this year.

The next stop was St. Margret’s School in Saanich.

There, the team met another girl named Charlotte. She was shaving her head for someone in her life that was taken from her far too soon.

“My mom passed away from cancer when I was about 4 years old,” said Charlotte Bedford. “I wanted to do something like this to help support her.”

St. Margret’s presented the riders with a cheque for $5,000.

At a quick lunch break, riders were full of reflection of their last 14 days on the road.

“(It's been) eye-opening for sure,” said Const. Aaron Grewal of the Saanich Police Department.

“When you meet the families, the reason why you’re doing it is for those families,” added Const. Chris Van Swieten of the Victoria Police Department.

The 1,200-kilometre journey that started in Port Alice on Sept. 24 concluded at the B.C. legislature, where the Tour de Rock team posed with a cheque representing the year's fundraising total.

The goal for the 25th annual tour was $600,000. In the end, the Canadian Cancer Society will receive $1,068,000 thanks to this year's tour.