Marie Nobles remembers her son Rex Gill as a man who always put caring for others first.
"He was always about looking after everybody, and especially veterans and seniors. He didn't think it was fair that they were left out in the cold, and he wanted to do whatever he could to make their lives easier," she said, with emotion.
Gill, 41, of Penticton, was shot to death at the Kamloops Comfort Inn and Suites on Jan. 23, and police say it may have been a case of mistaken identity in what appeared to be a targeted drug-trade shooting.
Now, Nobles has helped organized a Nov. 30 motorcycle ride from Penticton to Kelowna and a donation drive to benefit street-entrenched people in honour of her late son's memory, an idea he had last December that never came to fruition.
"He came up with this idea, and it didn't happen last year because there was ice on the roads and he got called back to work," Nobles said. "This year, his brother and a few of the guys, they don't care about the weather, they are going to ride for Rex, for something he really believed in."
The Ooknakane Friendship Centre in Penticton will be accepting donations of gloves, toques, jackets, blankets and other cold weather gear that the bikers will bring up to Kelowna to distribute on the streets. Donations will be accepted until Nov. 28, then Nobles will bag up the donations in preparation for the Nov. 30 ride.
"For donations, if they don't have toques, blankets, socks, coats, they can always bring in money," Nobles said. "What we don't have enough of, I'm going to take that money and go and buy."
The ride will start in the parking lot adjacent to Coyote Cruises at 8:45 a.m. Nov. 30, where Gill worked for many years. All are welcome to stop by for a by-donation breakfast, with proceeds giving back to the Ooknakane Friendship Centre's work in the community in Gill's name.
Then, the riders will head to Kelowna for a BBQ lunch at Gasoline Alley Harley in Kelowna from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., where all will be welcome for a by-donation lunch with proceeds going to the Kelowna Food Bank in Gill's memory.
They will also be handing out the donated warm clothes to needy people.
Any drivers or motorcycle riders wanting to help transport the donations are welcome to join the ride, which will depart Coyote Cruises at 10 a.m. Nov. 30.
– Chelsea Powrie, Castanet
