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Topless Day
By Michelle Babcock
Cross Country Jeepers started in January 2016 with a couple friends talking around a table about Jeep experiences and wanting to help others. I was encouraged, or perhaps "pushed" into taking the next step. I was new to the jeering environment but not to helping others. It began with a Facebook page and six members in order to have fun, meet fellow Jeepers, and help other organizations or individuals in need. Today we are at 215 members from all over with meetings once a month where roughly 15-30 members attend.
We had done some small outings and fundraisers, but needed to introduce ourselves to more people. In order to do so, we held our 1st Annual Topless Day fundraiser where 82 Jeeps and 121 people participated and $1000 was raised for the Tim Horton’s Children's Foundation.
By September we realized we needed to do some fundraising for ourselves if we were to stay successful. We teamed up with a new restaurant in town, Sammy Krenshaw's, as well as the local food bank, and made it a triple fundraiser. We put on a Show 'n' Shine in front of Sammy Krenshaw's using their menu for our food service, collected canned goods for the food bank, and entry fees as well.
It looks as though 2017 will be very busy indeed. Not only are we planning our own three big events, but also filling up our calendars with others' events that we will be supporting. At the time of writing, on April 30th we have a Jeep run for Special Olympics of Ontario Tillsonburg branch, which has ten members who qualified for 2018 Special Olympics Canada Games next year and therefore need to raise money. We asked Jeepers and Olympians to either pay $30 or raise a minimum of $30 in sponsors to participate. As an extra incentive, one of our members will shave their beard and head if $5000 is raised.
May 21, 2017 will be our 2nd Annual Topless Day with proceeds going to the Homeless Veterans Foundation. Fellow Jeepers are welcome to come out and participate. I am anticipating an even bigger crowd this year and pre-made 200 goody bags. Building up to this big day we started selling veteran's bracelets at $4.00 each. At the end of September or early October will be our 2nd annual Show 'n' Shine in support of the local food bank and Sammy's once again.
Who knows what else 2017 or the rest of the future holds for Cross Country Jeepers. We are a close-knit family with two passions in common - Jeeps and helping others. Youth and pets are always welcome as we try to have activities for all ages. It doesn't matter if you own a Jeep or not, Jeepers are always willing to share, and new members are always welcome as we love showing them the ropes. The one thing I do know is this dream and passion has become a success and I can only hope it keeps getting bigger and more successful.
If you're ever in the area and looking for an opportunity to do some wheeling and meet new people, search for us on Facebook.
Michelle Babcock is the founder of Cross Country Jeepers.