Written by Emily Thouless, Student Journalist
St. Peter's Catholic Secondary School in Barrie has always had a sweet spot for school spirit, but at this year’s second annual Inside Ride, they proved just how much FUN their school spirit could put into fundraising!
Each year St. Peter’s strives to host at least one charity event in their community to support cancer fundraising, whether it be the Relay for Life, or the Terry Fox Run, and this year was no exception. In the final days of May, the Inside Ride event was yet another fine example of how much St. Peter’s cares about its community. With the support of the Coast to Coast Against Cancer Foundation, St. Peter’s was provided with all of the bicycles and speakers needed for a crazy fun cycling competition, and one hundred percent of the proceeds donated supported a cancer charity of the school’s choice.
It's no wonder St. Peter’s staff and students jumped at this opportunity, raising just over seven thousand dollars for Candlelighters Simcoe, a local charity devoted to supporting families suffering from childhood cancer and in need of relief during their times of suffering. As a former childhood cancer survivor herself, Grade 10 student and contestant at the event, Nicole, was very grateful for the support given in the community, saying, “Raising awareness has always been important to me - in all of the tough times that I’ve been through, I always tell myself you’ve just gotta ‘keep on, keepin on”, and as a survivor it means a lot to see my community show support, and prove that my saying meant something.”
While the event had an enormously positive impact on those affected by childhood cancer specifically, what was even more spectacular was how the event affected the fundraisers themselves, with the contestants screaming their excitement as the event occurred in the school gym. Each fundraiser had a team of their best friends with them, and they would take turns riding the cruel ten minute uphill battle against a stationary bike, cheering and yelling and dancing until the very last second. All of this, in the hopes that their hard work and spirit would pay off, in the form of a medal for those with the best bike mileage, top fundraising, best spirit, and even best team costume!
With so much energy and so many contestants you’d think such a lively and colourful event would be difficult to run, but as Grade 11 student Gavin, one of the event coordinators from the Panthers Student Union, put it, “Once the event got going, it just ran itself.” This seemed to be the common consensus amongst the participants. Students were so tired and worn out, but they couldn’t help but feel proud of what they had accomplished. Even though they were exhausted, it was rewarding to know that all the money raised would go towards a bucket load of love and support that a charity in our community so desperately needs. With many of the contestants currently in Grade 9 and 10, the Inside Ride is expected to come back next year, better than ever, with more contestants and even more money donated, which makes the St. Peter's school community proud to bring even more fun into fundraising.