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Perry Mack, Budd Stanley, Bryan Irons
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Perry Mack, Budd Stanley, Bryan Irons
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Perry Mack, Budd Stanley, Bryan Irons
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Perry Mack, Budd Stanley, Bryan Irons
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Perry Mack, Budd Stanley, Bryan Irons
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Perry Mack, Budd Stanley, Bryan Irons
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Perry Mack, Budd Stanley, Bryan Irons
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Perry Mack, Budd Stanley, Bryan Irons
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Perry Mack, Budd Stanley, Bryan Irons
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Perry Mack, Budd Stanley, Bryan Irons
By Tyson Schutte
The 2015 Kelowna Toy Run was back for its 18th year collecting toys and cash for the Salvation Army to support local children and families. The event takes place annually the last Saturday of November, with the meeting location and trail run changing every year to keep it interesting for everyone.
The event keeps growing every year with an amazing turn out in 2015. The Chute Lake area in Kelowna, BC was chosen as the area for our event. The Salvation Army showed up on site to collect the toys and set up their cash donation kettle. They offered hot chocolate, coffee and snacks to everyone. After everyone made their donations, we went on a trail run into the hills towards Chute Lake ending in a bonfire gathering of off-road enthusiasts.
At one point, roughly 160 trucks and a few hundred people were gathered at the there. Just before sunset we called everyone together and raffled off prizes contributed by local people and businesses. It was an amazing turn out for a charity off-road event, helping hundreds of families get through the holiday season. It really kick starts you into the holiday spirit to see over 300 toys donated and well over 1500 dollars put into the Salvation Army kettle.
This year I wanted to try something new and got Toy Run 2015 stickers made and sold them at the toy donation table with all profits going into the Salvation Army kettle. There was a minimum donation of five dollars per sticker, however I saw one person donate fifty dollars towards one sticker! The stickers sold out half way through the event and I will be getting more made next year for sure.
It’s the stellar attendance of generous people that keeps pushing me every year to make the Toy Run bigger and better. I would like to thank my fiancée Carrie, and friends Ira and Joel for helping bring the whole event together this year.
I hope everyone is excited about 2016 as I am.