The Law Enforcement Torch Run came to the city Tuesday afternoon, as officers from the White Rock and Surrey RCMP detachments, as well as the VPD and other law enforcement and support personnel, gathered to participate in the 18th event to raise funds for the Special Olympics.
Runners – including Special Olympian and frequent LETR participant Pat Johnson – assembled at the Church on Oxford Hill, where children from the Treehouse Daycare were on-hand to wave hand-made posters and balloons and cheer them on their way.
Participants will have run almost 56 km in communities across the Lower Mainland, including Vancouver, North and West Vancouver, Burnaby, Mission and Chilliwack, by the end of the last run, in Delta/Ladner, today (Thursday).
Since the run arrived in B.C in 1990 it has raised more than $3 million to support Special Olympics programs, and helped increase the athlete base to more than 4,600 registered athletes in 55 communities around the province.
Special Olympics BC LETR liaison Charlotte Taylor told Peace Arch News that various law enforcement fund-raising initiatives – including the torch run – raised some $180,000 for the cause in B.C. last year alone.
“They’re among our strongest supporters – anything they can do to raise funds, they’ll do.”