The Friends of the Pier fundraising committee surprised the City of White Rock Monday night with a cheque for $400,000 as part of ongoing efforts to fund the repair of the city’s iconic pier.
At Monday evening’s council meeting, Bob Bezubiak – the chair of the fundraising group – along with members of the White Rock Youth Ambassadors and other members of the committee presented council with the funds.
The unveiling of the cheque’s amount was met with applause.
Prior to the meeting, the city had only announced that a “substantial amount” was to be presented, and Bezubiak told Peace Arch News Monday afternoon that the number was being kept under wraps in order to keep it a surprise.
“Thank you very much… this is absolutely tremendous,” White Rock Mayor Darryl Walker told the committee. “$400,000 is honestly more than I expected this evening.”
Awesome… Just awesome, great evening in Council Chambers, thank you to all. https://t.co/wPX4xMvWVP
— Helen Fathers (@HelenFathers) February 11, 2020
The cheque is the first installment of what the committee plans to be an eventual $2-million pledge to fully repair and improve the pier, which was damaged in a storm on Dec. 20, 2018.
Fundraising efforts included proceeds from the sale of pier planks, and events such as Beer for the Pier and Chefs for the Pier, the latter of which was held in September and raised $100,000 for the cause.
After months of repair work, the pier re-opened to the public in late August, and an official City of White Rock-hosted grand re-opening event was held in September.
“We came to (council) last May and said we were hoping to raise $2 million. It was a big number, and we weren’t sure how that was going to go, but we are extremely pleased with how everything is going so far,” Bezubiak said Monday night.
The plank campaign has so far seen 329 planks sponsored, with 971 left to sell.
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