Kelowna

A local motocross organization held its first ever charity event over the weekend and admit the results are a surprise.

The Kelowna Dirt Bike Club held the MX Ride for the Cure in support of breast cancer and raised more than $19,000 in pledges.

Vice president and event organizer, Jeanine Acheson, says the pledges are still coming in, but she expects the number will be closer to $20,000.

“It was just amazing how supportive people were. We had some great sponsors and everyone in the motocross community was really into it,” says Acheson.

She says they had 175 riders taking part in the relay race style event.

“We had 20 teams going around the track. Every team would have one rider on the track, doing the loop for about ten minutes then they would switch off. We had everyone from little six-year-olds to people in their 60s. It's really a family sport, so it was a family event.”

Acheson says when it came time to read out how much had been raised for the cause, she was unable to get the words out.

“The cheering from the crowd was just so loud that I could hardly say the amount! Everyone was just so happy to be there. One young man raised more than $1,000 all by himself.”

She says that because this event was such a success, they are planning to do a yearly charity event from now on.

Acheson says she hopes the success of this event will help convince the Regional District to renew the club lease at the end of the year.

"We need the Regional District to come behind us and stand with us and support our club and support our track and just give us the 100% support we need to continue to support the community. I just hope we've showed them that our club is strong and that we care about others in our community."