Rides 4 Smiles has once again left children and adults beaming from a full day of outdoor activities they may not otherwise experience.
At the Sept. 21 event in Ghost Country, 27 Starlight Children's Foundation families participated in off-road adventures: getting muddy and learning about what is in the water, throwing plastic axes, taking part in a scavenger hunt, racing RC cars, and many other activities.
"Rides 4 Smiles is our number one event in Alberta as voted by our Starlight families," says Heather Burnett, Starlight Children's Foundation for Alberta and B.C manager. "This is our fourth year of working with the Calgary ATV Riders Association (CARA) and the team of volunteers that helped make everything happen. All these folks that you see in these purple Starlight T-shirts are here to help make today fantastic for the children and their families."
For those unfamiliar with the organization, Starlight helps serious and chronically ill children and their families cope with all of the things that come with a serious illness diagnosis.
"The biggest part of what we do is help families get out, spend some quality family time together, and forget about the medical stuff for a bit."
Along the way, some special bonds are created, like the one between Kevin Dyke, from CARA, and Bodie, centre.
"The first year we did this event, Kevin met Bodie, one of our Starlight Kids, and they connected, and they have continued to connect every year," says Burnett. "Bodie shows up and says, 'Where's Kevin?' Kevin shows up, and he's like, 'Where's Bodie?' It's heartwarming to see the connections that they have made. They go out on the trail together and it is something that I think they both look forward to every year."
Bodie says it's something he looks forward to each year, and the best part is riding with Kevin and getting covered in dirt.
Dyke, a former CARA vice-president, says they used to do an event with the Jewish youth group and found it rewarding.
"Then Heather found us on the internet, approached us, and we said, 'We're in.' So, we've tried to make it bigger and better every year. The planning that everybody has done to get this all together is amazing, it truly is. Every year we've just added a little bit and hopefully, we'll keep adding and continue to be able to do it."
CARA vice-president Jen Devolder says they've received plenty of support to make it even more exciting for Starlight Children and their families.
She rattles off a long list of people, organizations and companies that have made it possible: the Alberta Off Highway Vehicle Association (AOHVA), Crowsnest Pass Quad Squad, Rocky ATV Club, Old Navy, Nomad Electrical Services, Ecosynergy, Country Hills Hyundai,, Ralph’s Motorsports, Basecamp Motorsports, Trails 4 Tomorrow, Ghost Watershed Alliance Society, Red Rock Sawmills, Environment and Parks, and all of the CARA volunteers.
The reward is knowing you've created special memories for the families, says Devolder.
"The families get to go on an off-road adventure, be in the outdoors, and experience something that they would never get in the city. They get to go through and see what it's like to be in the back hills, the mountains, climb some rock faces, go in the mud, you know, have the thrill of a ride. Aww, it's just great and they get to spend it with their families, which creates those lasting memories."
The Ghost Watershed Alliance Society (GWAS) and CARA have worked collectively on projects in Ghost Country for years. They jointly do cleanups, and the CARA maintains the designated trails.
"It was an amazing event last year and so we thought we should definitely be here again this year and show the kids some of the bugs that live in the water, make some connections between land and water and where people recreate. It's been a hit for kids."
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The rides all took place on designated trails that are maintained year-round by CARA.
"The Calgary ATV Riders have become an important partner to us working on improving the trail system," says Krainer, "and wherever we put bridges, we remediate the old forest, and we make the fish habitat better, so it's been an amazing opportunity for us to improve things on the ground and raise awareness."
Dan Mercier was the lead on the organizing committee this year. The day of the event he keeps the communications flowing between the volunteers and organizations involved, filling last-minute gaps, and making sure everybody's having a good time.
"They absolutely seem to be," says Mercier. "There's huge smiles on everybody's faces when they come back from the rides."
He says having help from surrounding area clubs and the rock-solid support of sponsors has been fantastic.
What's his take-home from the event?
"It's the smiles on the kids' faces. The kids, the kids the kids."
"Starry", the Starlight mascot, and Woody roamed the grounds giving out plenty of high-fives to families.
"We went with a Toy Story theme this year, and I'm kind of a wrangler, so we went the Western route, and it's been great," says Woody (Josh). "The kids love it, and they're loving Starlight."
Starlight Canada has been spreading joy to sick kids across the country for over 30 years through a unique blend of hospital-to-home programs designed for the whole family.
For more information on how you help create more magic in-hospital, grant more wishes out-of-hospital, and spread more sparkles across Canada, visit here.
