Mark Ferris is a self-appointed car nut. For the past month, he and fellow gearheads have been organizing cruises past Vancouver Island hospitals. What started as a fun way to show appreciation for healthcare workers has blossomed into something much more.
“There’s a lot of car enthusiasts around,” says Ferris. “People were starting to do little car cruises to the hospitals in support of our health care workers, so five of us got together to for Cars4COVID to just focus the energies and to do some fundraising!”
There have been cruises in Victoria, Sidney, Duncan, Nanaimo, Campbell River, Comox and all across the Lower Mainland. It’s all about giving back.
“The whole purpose is to show support for front line workers, essential workers and we’ve had tremendous support by the way from uh both law enforcement, our police, RCMP, local police, and also our fire departments. They often participate in the cruises,” says Ferris.
They group has raised just over $7,000 for the VGH and the University of British Columbia Hospital Foundation‘s COVID-19 research fund, with most of the money coming from the sale of one small item; stickers.
“So the idea of these stickers is you can put one on your car and you can make a donation to get your sticker, and hundreds of people have done that. That way you can put it on one of your cars. It can be your daily driver and every time you go out you’re showing your support for essential workers and front line workers,” says Ferris as he proudly displays his green and black stick on.
With a growing audience along their routes and participation through the roof, the group has no plans to stop cruising the Vancouver Island and Lower Mainland anytime soon.
“We have oftentimes a lot of cars coming out. So we have several times more than 100 cars coming out, which is a lot, and it’s great! So we thank everybody for coming out, it’s been marvellous,” says Ferris.
To find out more about upcoming cruises and how to donate, visit the Cars4Covid Facebook page.
Cole Sorenson
