By Rhonda Massad
www.thesuburban.com
The 17th annual police bike tour raised $75,000 for the Sun Youth Marie-Soleil Tougas Fund.
The six day tour began on May 29, at 8:30 a.m. at Laval city hall. The convoy of bikers traveled the main roads of Laval covering a distance of 76 km before moving on to the Montreal area and South Shore passing the home where Tougas lived. From there, the tour found its way to the Eastern Townships, Beauce, Three Rivers and Lanaudière.
The tour wound up back at the police headquarters at 2911 Chomedey Blvd. at 4 p.m. on June 3.
The total distance traveled by the participants was close to 1,100 kilometres.
The tradition began in 1997 when a group of Laval police officers decided to raise funds for Marie-Soleil Tougas Fund which helps children in need. Today the police bike tour takes place at the approximately the same time every year in many locations across Quebec.
Since the inception of the event, volunteers, participants and sponsors have raised more than $1 million towards the fund.
Since 2002, Sun Youth has managed the Marie-Soleil Tougas Fund, which is dedicated to promoting social health. This foundation supports assistance projects aimed at youth in situations of violence, abuse, addiction, early maternity, juvenile prostitution and distress.
This fund was created in memory of Marie-Soleil Tougas, who died in 1997. She was an ambassador for Sun Youth.
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