It was a car wash with a smile from a great group of PG residents on Saturday.

Prince George, B.C. – A group of Prince George residents got together and held a car wash to benefit a very worthwhile cause.  And it was hugely successful.

Now, many of us may, at times, relate to these people through the line of work they have chosen but make no mistake, they have homes and families and mortgages and food bills and everything else the rest of us have because, they are part of the rest of us.

And they were out Saturday washing the vehicles of mill workers and department store clerks and dental assistants and every other profession you can name.  You may have thought it was RCMP, Prince George Fire Rescue and BC Sheriffs Service staff that were doing the washing but it was actually members of the Prince George community.

And that’s the way a fellow pointed out to us as “Tony” wanted this effort to be portrayed.  Officially Staff Sergeant Anthony Hansen, Ops Support NCO at the Prince George RCMP detachment, he was one of the key organizers of the carwash along with Deputy Fire Chief Blake King along with Superintendent Warren Brown.

“Tony” says the “Law Enforcement Torch Run is one of the two main charities that the RCMP supports in British Columbia, the other being Cops For Cancer.  100% of the proceeds of this go to Special Olympics in B.C., it’s a great cause and as you can see we have some of the athletes out with us today helping us wash the cars.”

He says the people doing the washing were blown away by the public support for the event.  “It’s been phenomenal, we started at 11 (a.m. Saturday) and we had cars waiting before we even began to wash, we had a line-up and we’ve had a line-up non-stop for almost 2 ½ hours.”

He says it’s the first time these folks have held a car wash.  “It is, we’ve seen them done by other groups and thought, well it looks like a lot of fun.  And also it’s something to sort of help us connect with the public you know, without the uniforms and the cars and just put a face to what we do.  People have been great, giving above the requested amount ($10) for donations.  It’s been awesome.”

He also wants to thank Canadian Tire which donated the soap and the space for the event and also allowed the organizers to sell 50/50 tickets.

So the final tally?  Over 50 vehicles washed from 11 am to 3pm, raising in excess of $1600.  All of that money goes to Special Olympics BC to support Prince George-area athletes.

Will they do it again.  Absolutely, says Tony, although he says they’ll likely pick a couple of dates in case the weather doesn’t co-operate as it did on Saturday.