Cst. Jon Puterbough of the Merritt RCMP detachment will be taking part in the annual Cops for Kids ride in September of this year. 

Cops for Kids is a charitable foundation launched in 2001 and made up of RCMP officers and personnel from the South East District. The foundation raises money to support children in medical crisis in the communities served by the South East District RCMP. 

Although the bike ride takes place in Sept., the fundraising continues all year. On Saturday, June 26, the Merritt detachment held a yard sale with all proceeds going towards children in need and their families. 

“The last three or four years, to raise a bit of money we’ve had a yard sale out in front of the detachment in Central Park,” said Puterbough. 

“We just ask for people to donate items to us and then we’ll just have a yard sale with these donated items. We usually raise about $1,000, and on Saturday we raised $1,300.” 

100% of the money brought in from this yard sale, which was held under a record-breaking heat wave, was then given to Cops for Kids. 

“It’s all money we can put right directly towards the kids because everything was donated, so we had no expenses,” said Puterbough. 

“It all goes right to Cops for Kids.” 

In addition to individual fundraising for the organization, Cops for Kids hosts an annual bike ride during which RCMP members endure a gruelling, 1,000 km ride which follows an extensive loop through southeastern BC. 

“The ride is their signature, fundraising event,” said Puterbough. 

“They start in Kelowna on Sept. 10 this year, and we cycle down to Osoyoos, over to Grand Forks, Nelson, Cranbrook, up to Golden and then kind of do a big loop through Kamloops back to Kelowna.”

The route takes ten days to cover, with plenty of community interaction along the way. 

“We stop in all the communities we pass through and visit kids and families that we’ve helped and raise money,” said Puterbough. 

“It’s a fun event and it gets a lot of positive media attention and raises lots of money.” 

In years past, other officers from Merritt, such as Cpl. Derrick Francis, have taken part in the event, but for 2021 only Cst. Puterbough will be making the trek. Puterbough feels that this is a way to give back, something he began to consider after facing health issues with one of his youngest children, who was born premature. 

“That kind of got me interested and thinking about, what are some of the things that other families have gone through?” said Puterbough. 

“Because we were quite fortunate ourselves to have lots of support through that, but other families are not quite as fortunate. So, it got me thinking about what other people have to go through, and Cops for Kids is a great charity that helps kids and families that are having to go to BC Children’s to get treatment for, say, cancer or something, or they need specialized equipment that they can’t afford,” continued Puterbough. 

“It can be a real financial burden on families if one parent has to give up a job to be with the child full time for maybe weeks or months on end in Vancouver. So, that’s why I got interested in the ride, and now since being involved in it, it’s just such a great charity. Really positive people, completely volunteer driven.” 

For those who wish to support Cops for Kids, donations can be made directly to the foundation via the Cops for Kids website, or supporters are welcome to find Cst. Puterbough’s name on the webpage under ‘The Riders’ and make a donation to his fundraising page, which fosters good natured competition between riders to see who can raise the most funds for the charity. 

“Financially is the best way to help,” said Puterbough. 

“There’s more and more families that need it, especially after this past year.”