By Robin Della Corte
www.thesuburban.com
For its fourth straight year, the Laval Alzheimer’s Society will be hosting an annual cyclathon, Sept. 21-22, to help raise awareness of the debilitating disease and to raise funds for future activities hosted by the organization.
The cyclathon will begin Sept. 21, which is international Alzheimer’s day.
Laval residents are looking for sponsors for their participation in a two-day, 100 km bike tour from Blainville to St. Sauveur and back. Participants will travel 50 km each day.
To be eligible to participate in this two day event, each cyclist must raise a total of $1,000 in donations. The activity includes a lunch, cocktail and four-course dinner on Saturday, with a breakfast and lunchbox on the Sunday supplied by the organization.
“It’s a great event, people love it,” said Laval Alzheimer’s Society director Lise Lalande. “It’s a challenge to raise money, but you’ll feel proud in the end of what you accomplished. It’s a great feeling.”
This year, the goal is to raise $35,000 in donations and involve a total of 50 cyclists. Last year, about 25-30 cyclists participated and helped raise $30,000. In their first year, they had 24 cyclists and raised the most ever, $38,000, since some cyclists succeeding in raising $5,000 each in donations.
“Some people are afraid of the commitment, because they get scared when they hear the number,” Lalande said. “It’s not meant to be stressful, but this is why this year we have other options to help encourage more people to take part.”
This year, if a cyclists makes $300, (30 km in one day) they can participate Saturday only, and partake of the lunch and mini-putt in Prévost and cycle from St. Jérôme to Prévost and back.
For $400 (30 km in one day), which includes two adults and two children, they will join in the lunch and mini-putt in Prévost as well as cycle St. Jérôme to Prévost and back. For $500 (50 km in one day), a cyclist will have their entire Saturday included, which features the cocktail and four-course meal.
To register and to start collecting donations for the event, residents should fill out the application on the Laval Alzheimer’s Society website.
The deadline for donations is flexible, but the organization aims to have participants pledges in by early August.
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