The annual Race For Kids occurred for the fifth time in lakecity Saturday, organized by the Boys and Girls Club of Williams Lake and District.
Seven teams of two took to the streets of downtown Williams Lake for this Amazing Race style event, racing to be first to find all 10 of the stations scattered around town. This year marked the first year the teams were reduced to two members and the inclusion of children above the age of nine.
According to Boys and Girls Club executive director Deana Conde Garza, these changes come as the club transitions the event into a more family-oriented and fun fundraiser. Next year, she plans to have more activities available for children and is considering changing the date to encourage more teams to participate.
For this year’s event, however, Alexandra Weiand the operation’s coordinator for the Boys and Girls Club and the organizer of the event said she was pleased by how it went. Contestants started off by beating the summer heat with a water balloon fight before rushing off to the various stations manned by volunteers.
Read More: Race For Kids on for teams of two Saturday, June 1
While Weiand only joined the organization in March of this year, she said its been a really awesome experience getting to work with children and help plan events like Race For Kids. Weiand said it’s important to advertise all the services the club provides youth with events like this.
On the change in team size this year, Weiand said it was made in part to encourage more people to participate in the future. She feels it will be much easier for an individual to find one friend to do the race with rather than attempt to coordinate with a larger group.
“We’re hoping that by the time next year comes around that people know who we are and they’ll want to come race and experience what an awesome event this is. It’s so much fun, we get all of Williams Lake involved in it and we just want to have more people come and participate,” Weiand said.
Weiand wished to thank all the sponsors of Race For Kids, including Tolko for its ongoing support and the Rotary Club of Williams Lake for financing the barbeque afterwards. All money raised from the event, a figure Weiand guessed would be around $700, goes directly towards helping the club support youth in Williams Lake through a wide range of evolving programs.
patrick.davies@wltribune.com
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