Sunday marks the fourth year of the Sarah Beckett Memorial Cruise, an annual fundraising event that sees over a 100 cars take a drive to Port Renfrew and back to raise money.
Last year, the event saw over 130 cars take the trip, said the cruise’s founder Deanna Jennings.
”This year I’m feeling good. It’s not as good as I’d like just due to the gas prices, but still very confident it will turn out quite large.”
Jennings has every reason to be optimistic that Greater Victorians will turn out, and maybe some from even beyond the Island.
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“We’ve had people from Florida; we have people coming from the mainland; we people coming from the other islands” she said.
In 2016, the first year of the cruise, the group raised $102,000 for Const. Sarah Beckett’s family. Beckett, a mother of two, was killed by a drunk driver while on duty in April that year.
Nick Poulopoulos said the over 600 people came to the event in the morning meet up at Langford Tire to show support, although not everyone went. Attendance has tripled since the event came to honour Beckett, he said. Supporters can buy decals for their cars for $10, although, he added, some inevitably give more.
ALSO READ: Sarah Beckett Memorial Playground planned for City Centre Park
The meetup at Langford Tire on Jacklin Road is slated for 8 a.m. with roll outs at 9:30 a.m., and a promise to make it back by dinner time.
This year, Jennings said the group is hoping to raise $5,000, which will go toward buying a playground equipment for the the park being created in her honour at City Centre.
“Sarah had children of her own. She would only be too proud to have a park in her name that her kids can definitely go play at as well,” she added.
More information can be found here.
swikar.oli@goldstreamgazette.com