The Elks are rolling the clock back to the 1950s to help them roll a new kind of wheelchair into Prince George.
The president of the Prince George lodge of the Elks Club, Nancie Krushelnicki, is hoping to see some Caroline's Carts at grocery stores near you so she is revving the engines of an old-style sock hop.
The musicians in the spotlight are The Chevys - Prince George's old-school rockabilly band - and the location is the Senior's Activity Centre popularly known as The Old Library. The nostalgia is rumbling like a hotrod Bel Air.
A Caroline's Cart is a grocery buggy that is custom designed to allow for someone to ride in the back, with easy in-out features and harness system to keep such passengers safely in place. It allows for those with mobility difficulties to come along for the ride when their caregiver has to go get the family provisions.
"Having worked with a number of families in the past, with people having mobility difficulties, one of the biggest challenges is going grocery shopping," Krushelnicki said.
"This way, it gives that opportunity. It can be used for children up to someone 250 pounds, so almost anyone."
The Caroline's Cart initiative is something the national Elks organization has taken up as a cause across Canada. Quesnel already has one, and there are about a dozen across B.C. but none in Prince George yet.
The cost of the carts is about $1,200. They are manufactured in the United States but shipped to Canada with regularity.
In many places, grocery stores and big-box retailers will supply their own, or go into a partnership with a benevolent society like the Elks to share the costs.
"We will be in touch, through our national office, with the grocery stores of this city, but first we need to raise the necessary funds.
Then those conversations can be held," Krushelnicki said.
"We would love to see them in a number of stores around Prince George, but we will start with one at a time."
This all-ages event is a dance, a concert, and most importantly a fundraiser for this special kind of equipment not yet available anywhere in the city.
The show happens Jan. 28 starting at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $20 or $15 for Elks members (group rates are also available by emailing [email protected]). Anyone wishing to go a step further and join the Elks club are encouraged to attend and learn more.
They are open to men and women for local and national philanthropy projects.
