There is only so much navy cadets can learn in land-locked Prince George and now their annual trip to the salty sea has been put in jeopardy.
The kids aged nine to 12 who sign up for the youth leadership group centred on the Royal Canadian Navy learn military basics of our armed forces (parade skills, first aid, etc.) and they also get exposed to nautical skills. A lot of that is theory, and there are lakes around for some practical knowledge.
What's best for naval knowledge, though, is hands-on experience and the local children of Navy League Cadets of Canada 142-Aurora (Prince George) were set to head off to naval summer camp in Vancouver.
"We are completely non-profit. We get no funding from the Department of National Defense," said commanding officer Tom Taylor, whose day job is a maintenance supervisor at Canfor.
"The cadets fund raise throughout the year for the Legion and for ourselves. Our yearly budget is always tight."
When the corps set out to take all the kids to join the B.C.-wide navy cadet gathering this long weekend it started well, but a glitch hit their plans.
"To do this we require a bus to take us to Vancouver. In order for us to afford this, we need a volunteer bus driver. To drive the coach, the bus driver must work for Diversified Transportation (the company that owns the bus)," Taylor explained.
"This year we had one driver that drove for us last year. He unfortunately had to back out. A second generous soul stepped up and filled the gap. She unfortunately had to take another job just two weeks before camp. She has tried to get a replacement with no luck. This left us only one option. We have to hire a Diversified driver. This was not in our budget."
The price tag for a trip of that duration is $2,500. The 142-Aurora kids have started a GoFundMe campaign to cover this expense that will otherwise be borne by the families, many of whom have tight household budgets to begin with.
"Our kids love this camp as they get to leave town and meet other cadets from the province," said Taylor.
The bus rolls for Vancouver on Thursday. More than 150 kids from across the province will rendez-vous there for four days of sailing, marksmanship, outdoor adventure training, a tour of the naval base HMCS Discovery, and much more.
To donate (they have already passed $1,000 in support), go to the GoFundMe website and search with the title Prince George Navy League In Need or directly log on to: www.gofundme.com/zvv78c.
