Oak Bay News
The 2016 Cops for Cancer campaign at Oak Bay High has a head start thanks to a donation by the Oak Bay Police Department.
Police had a car kicking around that was “obtained by Oak Bay Police Department during an investigation,” said police chief Andy Brinton.
That was more than a decade ago and it’s been in storage since.
“It’s no longer needed, there’s no investigative value in it anymore,” Brinton said.
With little as-is value, it wasn’t worth the paperwork or time required for the department to sell the car.
“One of our members came up with the idea that Oak Bay High might be able to use it as a project, an educational opportunity,” Brinton said.
Oak Bay Police left it to the students to choose a program or charity for any funds raised to benefit. It didn’t take long for students to decide.
“It’ll finally get some good use out of it. It just needs a little bit of love,” said Jacob Macauley, one of Oak Bay High’s three 2015 Cops for Cancer campaign leaders on hand last week to kick the tires.
“It’s going to be fixed up by our autoshop,” said Jessica Izard.
They plan to leave it to the 2016 team to sort out the details of how best to use the vehicle, such as a raffle.
“This is the first big item we’ve had,” said Darragh Storey.
This year the Cops for Cancer team and Oak Bay Nation, the term they use to describe the student population and the wider community associated with the school, raised $42,501 for the Canadian Cancer Society fundraiser Tour de Rock, the Cops for Cancer fundraiser where officers bike the length of the Island supports cancer research and Camp Goodtimes.