Rain can’t dampen the charitable spirit for a pair of Peterborough Cares fundraisers

Despite the damp and cold conditions, a pair of annual Victoria Day charity events were deemed a success.

Under the umbrella of Peterborough Cares, a local grassroots charity, both the Camille on the Roof and the reformatted Ted on the Roof campaigns went off without a hitch, as neither team would let a little rain stop their charitable efforts.

Organizers don’t have any fundraising totals yet but suggest both initiatives were well met by the community.

“Somebody gave us a $1,000 cheque,” said Camille Parent, founder of Peterborough Cares.

Parent was given a lift onto the roof of the Arby’s sandwich shop on Lansdowne Street West, with help from the Peterborough Fire Department on Friday night and then spent Saturday up there, looking to raise as much money as they could for the Sick Kids Foundation.

“I’ve heard so many stories from people just collecting tolls today,” said Peterborough Cares VP Lindsay Mitchell. “They’ve told me stories about their children who were either in the hospital right now or knew someone who was in the hospital and had an experience there.”

Toll collectors lined the roadway and driveway into the restaurant, where volunteers were collecting donations in buckets, while Arby’s in Peterborough stepped up and donated a dollar from every combo sold at the store on both Friday and Saturday.

Across the city, over at Morello’s Independent Grocers on Lansdowne Street East, Ted Dawes and his union supporters were in front of the grocery store serving breakfast and lunch with proceeds going to the cause, while others collected donations at the entranceway of the grocery store.

The fundraiser has been a Victoria Day long weekend tradition for the past 18 years.

“We started with the Ted on the Roof event and we’ve done a couple of other events and now we’re here with Peterborough Cares to continue on this long weekend,” said Dawes, who took a break from his barbecue duties to share their success. Over the last 18 years, the event has raised more than $350,000 for leukemia research.

Dawes says he’s happy to be on the ground this year.

“When I was up on the roof I was kind of out of the loop and down here I’m on the barbecue and get to chat and meet people,” he said.

The Peterborough Cares campaign wrapped up Saturday evening and the organization will announce its fundraising totals at a press conference to be held later next week.