There’s just something about a big truck.
From kids in cars encouraging truck drivers to blow their horns, to adults wondering just what it might be like behind the wheel of a fire truck, the large vehicles just seem to have an allure that’s hard to resist.
And that’s why, for the last six years, the annual Touch A Truck event at North Saanich’s Panorama Recreation Centre always brings out thousands of people.
Families are welcome back again this Sunday, May 28 to the sixth annual Touch A Truck, hosted by Team4Hope. Spokesperson Colette Hopkins says they saw around 2,000 people last year — and are expecting similar numbers this weekend. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. the large south parking lot at Panorama will be chock-a-block with big rigs, construction equipment, fire trucks, police cars, motorcycles and more. Girls and boys and their families have the chance to see inside — and experience first hand the view behind the wheel of these vehicles.
“The whole event is hands-on,” said Hopkins.
New this year will be the armoured vehicle of the police Emergency Response Team on Vancouver Island. They will be on-site — and will also show off their robot. Hopkins said a friend is a team member and she asked if they were available to come out this year.
“It helps to know people,” she laughed.
The event will also welcome Game 2U, who will bring their giant hamster ball track. BC Guide Dogs will have some of their puppies there as well, helping educate people about what they do for people in need. Hopkins added the Sidney Lions Club will be there all day, cooking food for the event.
Over the six years of running the event, Hopkins said Team4Hope has raised more than $50,000 in donations from people attending Touch A Truck. The money goes right to supporting childhood cancer research in two programs through the BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver.
Team4Hope, Hopkins explained, was formed by moms in 2012 who were affected by local children suffering from neuroblastoma, a kind of childhood cancer. Hopkins said her own nephew had cancer when he was two years old and today, is about to graduate from high school. That, however, is not typical, she said.
The event is held in honour of one child who was not as lucky. Rene Soto died at age nine in 2015. He had neroblastoma and was able to attend the event that year. It’s for children like Rene that Hopkins said is the reason why the Team4Hope puts on Touch A Truck and their Handbags4Hope event every February. Between the two fundraisers, she said they’ve raised more than $370,000 for the cause.
To find out more about Team4Hope, visit team4hope.com. For tickets to Touch A Truck, go to the same website or drop in at Kiddin’ Around in downtown Sidney. Or, just show up and buy your ticket at the entry to the event on Sunday.