The South Cariboo’s pickleball community came together last weekend in support of service dogs for the inaugural Paddles for Pacific Assistance Dogs Society (PADS).
Held at Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School on Saturday, April 20 the event was organized by the South Cariboo Pickleball Association (SCPA). Larry Davis, the SCPA’s chair, said throughout the day members enjoyed games of pickleball all while raising money for a good cause.
“We invited our players to come out and donate to play and we had 30 people who showed up and we collected $1,656 from our players and then another $1,000 donation from corporate entities,” Davis said. “We (usually) have our players spread around different schools so it was the first time I met a lot of our novice players. It was a good way for us to get together, a good fundraiser and people seemed really happy to come out and donate their money.”
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PADS is a volunteer-driven organization that trains service dogs for people with disabilities, those in need of companionship and even mental health support. Davis said the SCPA found out about the organization through Pickleball B.C. which organized 23 pickleball clubs from across the province to take part in the first Paddles for PADS.
Davis said they had a choice of either splitting the money between themselves and PADS, or donating it all to the charity which the SCPA chose to do. He noted that the District of 100 Mile House and the South Cariboo Rec Centre also waived the rental fees for the school gym, which was appreciated.
“We just want to thank the school and city for helping us put it on,” Davis said.
The pickleballers also got a chance to meet one of the volunteers and dogs their donation will be supporting. Katherine McLaughlin, who raises dogs for PADS near Sheridan Lake, attended and explained how they’re trained and used.
The SCPA hopes to run the fundraiser again next year along with other clubs across the province. In the future, Davis said he’d like to promote the event further in advance and get some seating set up so people can watch the games.
Anyone with an interest in joining the SCPA is invited to reach out to them on Facebook or email scpa-admin@southcariboopickleball.org.