The bike-valet is run by Capital Bike, a non-profit organization that offers the service at cost to organizers of local events.
Capital Bike is back with its bike-valet service again this summer to give the public a secure place to leave bikes, e-bikes, skateboards, scooters and the like during seasonal events.
Known as The Locker, it is a staffed, fenced-off space for all manner of conveyances and any belongings that are attached to them.
“It’s a closed area and we have multiple staff on-site watching the bikes at all times,” said Capital Bike bike-parking manager Rebecca Uhland.
Users receive a claim tag and show it when they return.
The service was established in 2017 and really began to take off in popularity in 2022, she said.
The idea is for event organizers to pay a fee for the service — starting at about $440 for small gatherings — and offer it free to visitors.
Uhland said there can be various cost-saving measures for organizations, such as providing volunteers to help out.
She said Capital Bike is a non-profit organization so it offers the service at cost, with the amount of grant money it receives factoring into how much it charges.
A $28,500 grant this year has also helped in the purchase of new equipment to aid in expansion, Uhland said.
The grant was administered by the B.C. Cycling Coalition and came from the Ministry of Transportation and Transit as part of an initiative to encourage active transportation.
“The whole goal is to have more bike valets in the city,” Uhland said. “We really try to keep our prices low so that smaller events can also participate.”
The Locker was in place at Canada Day events, including activities at the legislature and the Gorge Canada Day Picnic, and is set up today at the Saanich Strawberry Festival and Victoria Pride celebrations.
Coming up, look for the service July 19 at the Moss Street Paint-In, July 26 at Esquimalt Eats & Beats and at the Sidney Street Market every Thursday.
Capital Bike also offers education programs, advocacy campaigns and various events.
• For more information or to register for the service, go tocapitalbike.ca/thelocker.
With the United Church of Canada marking its 100th anniversary this year, congregations are acknowledging the occasion with special events.
Oak Bay United Church did its part last week by partnering with the Our Place Society for a sock-and-underwear drop-off at the society’s Pandora Avenue headquarters.
Church minister Sarah Fanning said the congregation wanted to do something beyond having cake and a ceremony.
“Our Place is hope in action,” Fanning said. “So it was an easy decision to partner with them to celebrate our 100th birthday — not with fluff, but with compassion and purpose.”
Long-time church volunteer Margaret Schaffer, who has spent many years serving meals and helping out at Our Place, knew that socks and underwear are among the items most needed by the people that Our Place serves.
She and Fanning set out to collect 100 pairs of each, and reached their goal within a week, thanks to the generosity of the church community.
Schaffer bundled the socks and underwear together at her home.
“I’m looking forward to getting my sewing room back,” she said with a laugh. “But I’m even more excited to bring these donations to Our Place, where I know they’ll make a real difference.”
The bundled items were dropped off last Thursday, accompanied by a challenge from the church to other United churches in the region to follow suit.
“Consider it a birthday card to the United Church on our 100th birthday,” Fanning said. “Let’s celebrate by giving with love.”
The Our Place Society’s director of philanthropy, Janice Kalin, said the joint effort with the church “truly reflects what community care looks like.”
Students who joined in for the Cool It! Climate Change Leadership Training Program during the 2024-25 school year are being lauded by the Capital Regional District and participating municipalities.
From last September through June, 2,742 students from 120 classrooms in the CRD took part in the program organized by the B.C. Sustainable Energy Association to focus on taking action on climate change.
The program workshops were available to students in Grades 4-12, and were followed by a four-week, take-home challenge that encouraged the students to work with their friends and family to reduce their carbon footprints.
The workshops were sponsored by the CRD, Saanich, Victoria, Oak Bay, Sooke, Central Saanich and View Royal.
“When young people grasp what’s driving climate change and what we can do about it, they become some of the most engaged and effective voices for action,” said Rory Tooke, the CRD’s senior manager of environmental innovation.
“Cool It! gives students what they need to step up and lead, and it’s already making a real difference in their schools, homes and communities.”
During the their four-week challenges, students did such things as join climate-action clubs, attend tree-planting events, plant food and pollinator gardens, take part in beach cleanups and start school carpooling groups.
They committed to over 17,000 actions to lower energy and carbon emissions at home, the CRD said.
Classes that that reduced their greenhouse-gas emissions the most over the four-week period were awarded prizes, with winners coming from Margaret Jenkins Elementary School, Keating Elementary School and Cedar Hill Middle School.
“The enthusiasm and leadership shown by teachers and students this year has been incredibly encouraging,” Tooke said. “We look forward to seeing that growing momentum across the region.”
The school program is part of the CRD’s Climate Action Strategy, which was launched in 2017.
• Details and directions on the program can be found atbcsea.org/cool-it-climate-leadership-training.
It’s 11,000 jars of peanut butter and counting for Merry Maids of Victoria, which has just launched its annual Project Peanut Butter campaign in support of the Mustard Seed Food Bank.
The campaign is held in the summer so that the protein-rich product is available to families at a time when school meal programs aren’t running.
The impressive amount of peanut butter gathered so far, along with tens of thousand dollars in cash donations, began accumulating when the campaign was created in 2014 by Matt Tanner, who was part of his family’s Merry Maids franchise.
He died following a stroke in 2021 at the age of 36, and the initiative has been continued in his honour.
“We are seeing record levels of demand, and it’s not just from those people traditionally imagined when one thinks of a food bank,” said Mustard Seed director of development Claudia Rezende. “Food bank visits rose 24 per cent in 2024 alone and are up a staggering 168.9 per cent since 2020.”
This year’s campaign received a boost at the June 14 wedding for Merry Maids of Victoria owner Scott Tanner and Jacqueline Sloan, when guests were asked for donations to the effort rather than gifts — and gave over $8,000.
With that help, this year’s campaign could beat last year’s totals of 3,000 pounds of peanut butter and $23,000.
Staff will collecting peanut butter from clients until July 19 and at the Merry Maids of Victoria offices at #101-1840 Oak Bay Ave., and donations can also be given at sponsoring businesses.
Everything will be delivered to the Mustard Seed on July 21 — Matt Tanner’s birthday.
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