Victoria high school robotics team grateful for support as fundraising continues
A Victoria high school robotics team has raised about a quarter of the money they'll need to be able to compete in an international competition in Texas next month.
Since taking home first place in the FIRST Tech Challenge competition in Surrey, B.C., earlier this month, the Reynolds Reybots team from Reynolds Secondary School has raised about $9,000.
The team is grateful for the support that will help send 25 people – 22 students and three mentors – to the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship in Texas in four weeks.
"The amount of support from just the community and so many people willing to help us and so many kind people going out of their way to help us and donate is really cool," said team member Nick Bernhardt.
The team is still well short of its $40,000 goal, but Bernhardt said the money it has received so far is already a big help.
"I don't think we'll get to the $40,000, but I think it's definitely achievable for us to get at least half that, and I think that will make just a huge difference for families having to pay the rest of the cost," he said.
The Reybots are still taking donations through their GoFundMe campaign. They're also holding a bottle drive at Reynolds Secondary School from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 1.
Two local businesses have also stepped up to offer fundraisers for the team.
49 Below ice cream is offering a 10 per cent discount with 10 per cent of proceeds going to the team when customers use the promotional code "Reybots," and Island Chef Pepper Co. is donating $5 from the sale of every bottle of its West Coast Classic sauce to the team.
Correction
This story has been updated to correct the name of the competition the team won. It was the FIRST Tech Challenge, not FIRST Robotics Canada
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Nova Scotians’ personal information stolen in global security breach: province
A global security breach has resulted in the theft of an undisclosed number of Nova Scotians’ personal information.

Canada sticking with 2050 net zero targets, but progress may come faster than expected, minister says
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says the federal government is not ruling out finding ways to achieve net zero sooner than the existing 2050 goal, but would not say whether there would be a definitive commitment to move up the target.
Increase in mosquitoes 'a trend' across Canada this year. Here's why
Mosquitoes have always been pesky, but this spring it seems the bloodsuckers are thirstier than ever, a trend one expert says is increasing.
Fishing tragedy in northeastern Que.: Support workers dispatched to local schools
Support services will be offered at three Quebec schools on Monday after a tragic fishing incident claimed the lives of four children. The children, all above age ten, were among a group of 11 people swept up by the tide late Friday night while fishing along the shore in Portneuf-sur-Mer, a village about 550 kilometres northeast of Montreal. A man in his 30s also died.
Wildfires in western Quebec prompt thousands more evacuees to relocate
Wildfires in western Quebec have prompted thousands to evacuate the area over the weekend, while the threat of encroaching flames eased slightly on the North Shore as Canadian Armed Forces geared up to fight the threat.
China rebukes U.S., Canadian navies for Taiwan Strait transit
China's military rebuked the United States and Canada for 'deliberately provoking risk' after the countries' navies staged a rare joint sailing through the sensitive Taiwan Strait.
Apple is expected to unveil a sleek, pricey headset. Is it the device VR has been looking for?
Apple appears poised to unveil a long-rumoured headset that will place its users between the virtual and real world, while also testing the technology trendsetter's ability to popularize new-fangled devices after others failed to capture the public's imagination.
Ukrainian father rushes home after Russian airstrike to find 2-year-old daughter dead in rubble
A Ukrainian man rushed to his home outside the central city of Dnipro in hopes of rescuing his family, only to find his two-year-old daughter dead and wife seriously wounded as he helped pull them from the rubble of their apartment destroyed in one of Russia's latest airstrikes of the war, authorities reported Sunday.
Error in signalling system led to train crash that killed 275 people in India, official says
The derailment in eastern India that killed 275 people and injured hundreds was caused by an error in the electronic signalling system that led a train to wrongly change tracks and crash into a freight train, officials said Sunday.