A Reason to Ride

The SABC Annual Ride for a Reason (RFAR) is only a few days away!  There are 50 riders participating and already over $70,000 has been raised.  We are still short of our goal but very thankful for the generosity of all those that have contributed so far.  Our fantastic steering committee has worked a ton of hours planning and organizing this event – I’m not sure we can even understand the time commitment that Graham Reimer, Jeff and Ronda Nielsen, Brendan Coffey, Julie Steeves, Verdun Sawatsky, and Erin Bjorn have given over this past year.  Looking forward to a hot and sunny weekend for the ride from Banff to Okotoks!

So what about the Reason?  Tell me why are we doing this?

Presently our summer camps are filling up and we have already approved 198 camper sponsorships totalling $51,831.  Our board has made it clear that SABC will ensure that children that cannot afford the fees will still be able to come to camp.  Children like Danny whose social worker says that his week of camp is the one thing he’s looking forward to all year long.  Children like Greg who came last year from a tough home situation and needed to get to a place where he could think straight and make some changes in his life.  Children like Sally who takes pride in telling her mom that she loves fishing – fishing for crayfish!  The privilege we have is to be able to share God’s love and the hope that Jesus gives with each one of these children!  Last year we gave out over $73,000 worth of camp sponsorships.  This ride made that possible.

The primary reason for RFAR is to help fund these kids to come to camp.  Additionally, RFAR will help with a 4 year campaign (Vision 75) to create more spots for campers to come to SABC.  Last year was a record attendance for summer camp with 1702 campers.  One hundred campers were turned away for lack of room.  The ultimate goal of the Vision 75 campaign is to create  320 more spots for campers each summer.  We are at early stages within this campaign and there will be more information to follow.

Until then, I encourage you to get on our website (RFAR) and find a rider to sponsor.  You will receive a donation tax receipt for 100% of your contribution.  Thank you in advance for your help and support.  You might not want to ride but thank you for joining us in reaching more children and making it possible for every child to attend summer camp.