ABOUT

Any family blindsided by a childhood cancer diagnosis is devastated, but those
who live on Vancouver Island are often hit extra-hard.
Here, the emotional toll can be compounded by added financial pressures and
feelings of isolation as, sometimes, the family is physically torn apart by the need
to move the child to another city for treatment.
The Island Kids Cancer Association sees that all the time: an ailing child is
helicoptered to treatment in a faraway hospital, one parent quits work and moves
nearby, the other parent tries to hold down the fort at home. Even when no one
has to move, caring for an sick child can mean income drops, unexpected
expenses pile up and the mortgage still needs paying, all while the family is in
emotional crisis. Even after treatment is finished, it can take years for a shattered
family to put the pieces back together.
That’s why the End2End cycling relay exists: to help the IKCA ease that burden.
The June 16-18 event will see a relay team of cyclists ride from Victoria to Port
Hardy and back non-stop — that’s more than 1,000 kilometres in less than 48
hours — to raise money that will allow IKCA to help families in need.
This will be the second time the relay has been staged. The first, in June 2025,
raised more than $110,000 for the Victoria-based non-profit.
That ride was dreamed up by Victoria’s Andy Dunstan, a longtime childhood-
cancer campaigner. He presented it to his employer, the Trek Bicycle Store in
Victoria, which quickly volunteered to become End2End’s organizing sponsor.
The store had sponsored and been involved in many cycling-related fundraisers
over the years, leaving it with a wonderful resource: a cadre of people with the
experience, passion and know-how to pull off an effort like End2End.
The people in the Trek family – employees, customers, members of the broader
cycling community -- were soon joined by others who were keen to be part of this
Island-based solution to an Island problem. They did so knowing that all the
money they helped raised would not only stay on Vancouver Island but would go
straight to the cause. End2End is a totally volunteer effort. There are no paid
staff, and almost all the operating expenses have been absorbed by generous
sponsors.
As we begin our second campaign, we would be profoundly grateful if you chose
to be part of this journey, too. That could mean anything from making a tax-
deductible donation on this website, to becoming a sponsor, to staging or
attending one of the fundraising events that will be held in advance of June’s ride.

It’s really just a matter of neighbours helping neighbours in need. Or, as our
motto says, Islanders helping Islanders.