The End2End Cancer charity bike ride across Vancouver Island is back. The fundraising event, supported by Trek Bikes in Victoria, will have eight cyclists riding in a relay from Victoria up to Port Hardy and back in 48 hours this June.
Last year, the inaugural event broke their fundraising goal of $100-thousand, generating $113-thousand for the Island Kids Cancer Association (IKCA). The event was an idea of End2End Chair Andy Dunstan, who says last year’s success was proof of concept that his idea was feasible and he’s glad it will not be a one-and-done success.
“I’m excited about the fact that we get to do it again,” he says. “When we did it the first time, you’re never really sure how it’s going to play out. But it really captured the imagination of people and companies on the Island, so to be able to do it again is a real privilege.”
Dunstan has years of experience as he helped organize the other major cycling fundraiser for childhood cancer on the Island. After 2025’s success in this new venture, he’s excited to set a new, higher fundraising total for 2026.
“All the riders from this year have amazing community contacts who I think are really going to get on board and support us and although we have a fundraising goal of $150-thousand,” he says. “The sky is the limit really.”
One of those riders, Jennifer Millar’s connection to the Island is long. She was born and raised in the Cowichan Valley, but now lives in Cordova Bay. She has firsthand experience with the event and the issue at hand. Her son Eamonn, who will be 12 in April, was diagnosed with high-risk Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in April 2024.
“His protocol is long,” she says. “Essentially we’re through the trenches, but we still have a big battlefield of maintenance to get through. He was 14 months of intense chemotherapy and we were living at BC Children’s Hospital for a great deal of that time.”
While they were living in Vancouver they weren’t able to access the supports of IKCA. Nonetheless Eamonn wanted to help in their efforts, so he designed a sock that to sell to fundraise for them. His efforts generated over $20,000 last year and he has since released a second sock (available now) and is hoping for the same result.
“It’s called ‘Enchanted Deep’ and it’s now on the sleeves of [the End2End] jersey,” she says. “It’s another fundraiser for IKCA and we’re hoping for another $20,000.”
IKCA Founder and Executive Director Susan Kerr says they’re currently working with over two hundred individuals on the Island who are in some stage of the process. Her connection to the cause is personal, as her son Jacob was diagnosed with cancer in 2005. Their experience as a family lead her to understand the shortcomings of available supports, so in 2017 she helped found the organization.
“We just found that supporting my son in 2005, there wasn’t a lot of options here on the Island as far as any type of connection or support, or financial support. Just the basic necessities that families really need,” says Kerr. “It was really all over on the mainland, so it was really important for me to develop some programming and get families together.”
Kerr says the organization started out in Victoria, but as they grew it was evident that they needed community support and connections across the Island. To connect with families, they work closely with BC Children’s Hospital and Victoria General Hospital.
“We have a very good relationship with the social workers there who have the information on who we are and what we do, so when a family is released back to the Island after their child has gone through treatment, they know about us,” she says.
What support looks like for each family is handled on a case-by-case basis. IKCA’s family navigator reaches out to determine what type of support would be most appropriate. It could be anything from financial support or grocery vouchers to emotional support such as time with a counsellor or art therapy.
“It varies a lot of time depending on where they’re at [in their cancer journey]. With newly diagnosed families, it’ll usually be financial assistance. And then we do have a family connections program where families can get out and do things, like bowling, with other families to create a community,” she says.
“As the journey goes on, it’s very hard on family’s mental health. That includes the child who is the patient, the siblings, and the parents. We provide mental health support, so we work with over a hundred service providers across Vancouver Island who are there when we need them.”
Kerr says aside from the large sum that the 2025 End2End event generated, the ride also helped raise awareness for their organization – which was huge for them.
“We can’t do the work that we do and rely on community, individuals, and businesses without them having an understanding of why we’re doing it,” she says. “The wheels are turning. The awareness is there. I would love for the awareness to keep out there, for families to realize that this is a hard journey and the needs don’t stop. The needs keep going.”
This year’s End2End Cancer relay leaves Trek Bikes in Victoria on June 16 and will return there on June 18.
