DAWSON CREEK, B.C. — A Dawson Creek woman biked 101 kilometres in one day to raise $5,000 for STARS after her daughter’s friend was killed in a snowmobiling incident.
Tammy Schmidt, joined by her best friend Amy Kaempf on foot, completed the over 100-kilometre bike ride on Monday in Dawson Creek during a storm.
“Actually, my best friend was a little bit crazy, and she was going to run 100 kilometres for three local charities here in Dawson Creek,” Schmidt explained. “She had asked me if I’d join her because I cycle.”
Schmidt wanted to raise money for STARS, a non-profit air ambulance organization, after her daughter’s best friend, Demee Bassett, was killed in a snowmobiling incident.
“Not very many people know about STARS. I’ve had so many people say, ‘What’s stars, I haven’t heard of it,’” Schmidt said.
On March 25th, 2023, around 4:30 p.m., in Rimbey, Alberta, RCMP responded to a report of a serious snowmobile collision on the Blindman River northeast of Rimbey.
Bassett was snowmobiling with her spouse and two friends when she struck a long steel cable that extended across the river.
The Ponoka County Fire Department and EMS provided medical care before she was airlifted via STARS to the University of Alberta hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.
Schmidt said Bassett’s family met her on Sunday and thanked her for what she was doing.
Schmidt has raised her $5,000 goal with donations still coming in from the community and as far away as the United States.
She hopes to raise more money to coordinate an awareness and safety seminar for anyone who works or plays outdoors.
The women started the route at 7 a.m. from the Mile 0 post and finished at the same spot at 9:59 p.m.
They had help from Schmidt’s husband and a mutual friend in a motorhome with water, a bathroom and food to keep them going. Every ten kilometres, they stopped for a short break.
Schmidt didn’t randomly decide to ride 100 kilometres without experience — she and her husband have been biking for about 12 years.
“We travel around the world, and we cycle… My husband and I are on bicycles cycling all over countries. That’s what we do for travelling,” Schmidt said.
Kaempf, who has been running since high school, is raising money for The Ark Christian Youth Centre, Step Up ‘N’ Ride Society and the South Peace Hospice Palliative Care Society.
Kaempf has raised about $1,500 so far and plans to keep her fundraiser open until around August 19th.
To donate to Kaempf, she can be contacted at 250-784-4145 or akaempf9@hotmail.com.
Schmidt plans to keep her fundraiser open for about another week and accepts e-transfers, cash or cheques. STARS will send out official receipts.
Donations to Schmidt can be sent via e-transfer to tschmidt@pris.ca or 250-219-1685.
Anyone with information on the snowmobiling incident in March is asked to contact the Rimbey RCMP at 403-843-2224 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
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