Hi there Ocean Fans!

It was an absolutely jam-packed weekend that had a bit of everything. Blue skies, sheets of rain, local celebrities rappelling down the side of a building, innovative kids, trucks. It had it all!

On Friday, the Make a Wish foundation staged their annual Rope for Hope event outside the CIBC Building downtown. It’s a pretty spectacular event – fundraisers for the Make a Wish Foundation rappel down the side of the building, while music and more fundraising happens below. It’s a pretty high building, so rappelling down the side of it is a pretty tall order. among those up to the task were our very own Ella and Mike, who donned harnesses, helmets, and terrified grins as they made their way up to the roof and over the edge. Luckily, we didn’t have to put up a job posting for a new Promotions manager and coordinator – Ella and Mike made it down the building and back on solid ground unscathed. They helped raise a whole lot of money for Make A Wish Foundation too! Well done Ella and Mike!

Saturday saw the skies open up and sheets of rain blanket our fair city. I was eternally thankful that our activities were indoors that afternoon. We stopped by the Bay Centre for Kidovate, a youth innovation experience. The centre court of the mall was full of displays put on by the young innovators of the Kidovate project, which aims to provide kids with a hands on approach to business and innovation, so that they can learn about these things in a productive way. These kids were ages 11-16, and all of them had such incredible and innovative ideas. Do you know what I was doing at ages 11-16? Sitting on my couch, playing videogames, and trying to hide my bad math marks from my parents. These kids are getting out there, coming up with eco-friendly and creative ideas, drafting business plans, and getting out in the world to share them. One kid wrote and published her own book of original poetry! Another came up with a wax coating for paper straws, so that they didn’t disintegrate easily or make the drink taste like paper. There were bookmarks with original art, tye dye socks, custom greeting cards, stuffed animals, and all kinds of other creative products. It really was amazing to see!

on Sunday, Kate and I went up to Panorama Rec Centre for Touch a Truck, an annual event where they bring in a bunch of trucks and service vehicles and allow anyone to check out and explore them. Immediately I could see why this has been such a popular event for the last few years. 6 year old Sam would have been so excited to explore all of the trucks and honk the horns and see how all the trucks work….oh who am I kidding, 24 year old Sam was pretty excited to see all of that stuff too. There were firetrucks, ambulances, military vehicles, cranes, construction vehicles, all kinds of cool trucks! It was all to benefit BC Children’s Hospital, which is a wonderful cause.

A big thanks to Hillside Centre, Moxies Bar & Grill, Barb’s Fish n Chips, Beacon Hill Children’s Farm, and Cupcakes at Uptown for making the Fun Finder Fun all summer long!

-Fun Finder Sam

Filed under: Community Cruiser