The 32participants in the 2022 Cops for Kids ride (photo courtesy of Cops for Kids / Kelowna RCMP)

By Liam Verster

Cops for Kids

North Okanagan officers join Cops for Kids Ride

Sep 9, 2022 | 11:45 AM

Dozens of police officers, including several Vernon North Okanagan RCMP members, have mounted their bicycles and hit the road for the 2022 Cops for Kids Ride.

A total of 32 cyclists from throughout South Eastern B.C., including five from the Vernon detachment, hit the road in Kelowna Friday (Sept. 9) for a ten day ride in support of local children in medical, physical or traumatic crisis.

The local riders include Denise McMahon, Nick Reimann, Joel Kooger, Jonathan Klassen and Kathryn Ahvenus.

Starting in Kelowna, the cyclists will ride through the South Okanagan to the Kootenays as far east as Cranbrook, before returning through Kamloops to Vernon. They will finish their ride in Kelowna on Sept. 18.

“Our ride team is dedicated to helping the kids in the communities where they work and serve. For them the hard work of the ride will be over in ten days but for the kids we meet along the way, their journey to wellness is much longer,” said ride captain, retired Staff Sergeant Major Julio Krenz.

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The riders, who have each raised a minimum of $2,500 for the cause in order to participate, will stop in 26 communities throughout their journey to meet the children who benefited from those fundraising efforts.

“When the ride starts hurting, I think of the parents and their children dealing with their challenges and that they can’t quit,” said rider and director, Gail Harrison

“That’s what pulls me up those mountains. I tell myself they don’t quit, so neither can I.”

Since 2001, Cops for Kids has raised over $6.1-million for the cause.

People can track the riders’ progress or make a donation to the cause at the Cops for Kids website.