Two Greater Victoria mayors are taking a friendly rivalry to the next level with a fundraising challenge for charity.
Saanich Mayor Dean Murdock and Oak Bay Mayor Kevin Murdoch have often been confused in their tenure as mayors of their respective municipalities. So the Murdock(h)’s decided to have a fundraising battle for local charity.
“We thought we’d have a bit of fun with the fact that we are two mayors Murdock(h) and a bit of rivalry over the use of the name,” says Murdock.
“The challenge is sort of Oak Bay vs Saanich, grant you Saanich is about five times the size of Oak Bay so we need our residents to step up, but the challenge is to see who can raise the most funds by the end of May,” says Murdoch.
The money from the fundraiser will go to the Victoria Hand project, a local charity that creates 3-D printed prosthetic hands and arms and establishes partnerships with healthcare providers worldwide.
“We as a charity we’re able to provide these hands at really low cost, free of charge to those most in need and we also do a lot of technology training,” says Victoria Handwork COO Kelly Knights.
“So we work with existing hospitals and clinics, we’ll bring them training, we’ll bring them 3D printers and we’ll show them how to make these hands themselves.”
The Hand project launched a pilot project in Ukraine earlier this year which provided five prosthetic arms to people in need. This summer they hope to return with more supplies and help 100 amputees.
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“The pilot project, we brought them one printer, we gave them a little bit of training,” says Knights.
“Now going back we’re going to give them multiple printers, we’ll give them really in-depth training and hopefully it just means that it can be on demand care helping people as needed for years to come.”
The runner-up in the battle of the Oak Bay and Saanich mayors will have to row with a prosthetic hand in the annual tea cup races at the Oak Bay Tea Party.
“This will be an opportunity for one of us to give that a try and hopefully not end up all wet,” says Murdock.
“Part of it will also demonstrate how functional these things are. they’re incredibly useful for day to day life,” says Murdoch.
To donate, you can visit the Victoria Hand Project’s website.
Cole Sorenson
