Keremeos Village Council opted to turn down a request to have the village cover the cost of lunch this week when members of the ALS Cycle of Hope pass through the community.
It was the right thing to do. The Cycle of Hope is truly a worthy effort; we aren’t denying that it isn’t a worthwhile cause.
The issue is the precedent it would set - and council surely does not want to go there.
Every year, countless bicycle tours pass through the village on their way across the province, or across the country, riding for just about every cause imaginable.
(Indeed, Keremeos has it’s own homegrown bicycle touring fundraisers in Linda Pilon and Debbie Vernon - who, by the way, recently completed their 3,000 kilometre plus odyssey to Ontario for mitochondria research.)
The donation of lunch to the ALS Cycle of Hope opens the floodgate for every other worthy cause that rides through the community to ask for - and expect - similar treatment.
Council can’t afford to be selective when it comes to picking a cause to support; therefore, it is most fair not to support any.