Maple Ridge students cheer on Cops for Cancer Tour de Coast riders

Hundreds of students from kindergarten through Grade 7 at Kanaka Creek Elementary cheered and held handmade signs for the Cops for Cancer Tour de Coast team on Wednesday morning, Sept. 16. The riders exchanged high-fives with students as they cycled into the school parking lot.

The annual eight-day ride sees police and emergency-service personnel cycle along B.C.’s coast to raise money for childhood cancer research and support services through the Canadian Cancer Society. Const. Cade Ramour of the New Westminster Police Department told students it was the sixth day of the tour and the group had ridden more than 400 kilometres of its 800-kilometre journey. Ramour, who attended Kanaka Creek Elementary as a child, said returning to his former school and seeing the students’ reception was especially meaningful.

Cops for Cancer began 29 years ago after Alberta police officer Gary Boulet shaved his head in support of a boy named Lyle, who had done so after receiving a cancer diagnosis. Ramour said participants have raised more than $60 million since then.

Before continuing, the riders sang with the students and presented principal Tanya Dailey with a 2026 Tour de Coast rider plaque. Dailey said the school had raised $643 by selling Freezies in advance of the visit and would donate the money to the team. The tour also visited Meadowridge School, Edith McDermott School and Pitt Meadows Elementary School that day. Donations to the Canadian Cancer Society through Cops for Cancer support pediatric cancer research and programs including Camp Goodtimes.