GPS Community, Donation & Sponsorships

Calgary Cache & Release (Fall 2011) - October 23-24, 2011
Hi George! I am pleased to forward to you, some photographs from our very successful Cache and Release weekend in October! We had a tremendous turnout across both days with a huge contingent staying up through the night to geocache like possessed Tupperware-hungry nerds (that we are!). GPSCentral.ca was well represented with most, if not all, cars displaying mirror covers and flags and of course as sponsors of the Best Overall Geocache Trophy which was awarded to a new recipient this Fall.
Thank you for your continued support of our local geocaching hobby – without your generous sponsorship, the bi-annual Cache and Release weekend that the Calgary Area Cachers stage would not be half as sizzling and glitzy as it is! You have loyal fans here and we look forward to seeing our relationship continue.
In 2012, new organizers will be taking control of the events, and I am sure they will be contacting you in due course to discuss your participation.
Photograph of trophy winner shows: Best Overall Geocache awarded to Linda Davidson - Geocaching name “Plus Ell (+L)” - for “Mmade you smile!” (http://coord.info/GC32PX6) (l-r) Kim Sharabura, Heather Davidson, Linda Davidson, Miles Finlay
Yours,
Miles Finlay
Heather Davidson
Kim Sharabura

Loose Screw Dual Sport Club - August 12-14, 2011
I wanted to thank you and your team again for your continued support of the Loose Screw Dual Sport. The event was a success again this year with 140+ riders from all parts of western Canada and the USA. The two GPS packages that you donated were well received and allowed the raffle to support www.dualsportbc.com reach an all time high!
The two winners, Doug and FLoyd, are both Kamloops residents and were very surprised when their numbers were called. They will definitely be putting them to good use in the coming months and years.
Thanks again,
Dan Breakey
http://www.loosescrew.dualsportbc.com/
http://www.dualsportbc.com/forums/showthread.php?10011-Loose-Screw-2011-Thank-You-to-the-Sponsors

CleanUp in Chilliwack - May, 2011
Dear GPS Central, I would like to thank you for your donation of hats and t-shirts to my clean up event in Chilliwack on May 7th, 2011. With your kind donation it gave incentive to all of the volunteers that came out to pick up garbage on the rainy day. Even though it was raining all through the time we were picking up garbage, we still managed to pick up 340kg of debris and trash that was so carelessly discarded at the side of the road. Below I have attached some pictures of the event and the garbage. Again, thank you for your donation and your support for this event it is very appreciated. Yours truly, Sue Sandar

HarvestFest 2010 - August 28, 2010
Hi, Holly, We had our geocaching event, Harvestfest 2010, on August 28,and it was a resounding success! As requested, I've forwarded two pictures... One is a group picture of all that attended, and the other is awarding your very generous donation of a GPS. We had another GPS donated by Radioworld, so we had a special draw for "under 16-year-olds". And two young girls won the GPSrs. They were absolutely thrilled, and both have opened their own geocaching accounts now (before, they geocached under their family's team names). Thanks so much, Holly. Your donation really contributed to the success of our event. - Cathy

Dream Wheels Event - August 29, 2010
Hi Holly, Thank you so much for the GPS . It was such a surprise but we won the GPS how cool is that. I am so happy now I will not have to follow my husband around. We did want to Thank you so much for your donation and we also advised everyone of your donation and heard good stories about how when at your store in Calgary that you load a cache outside your building for people to find with their GPS. I have attached a couple of pictures and again want to Thank you. - Vicky of Team G&V

Loose Screw Dual Sport Ride - August 14, 2010
George, We would like to again thank you for your generous support for the 2010 Loose Screw Dual Sport ride (pdf file). We had a little over 125 riders this year on what was a very successful couple of days. There were no problems, the weather was great, we had lots of new faces and it seems that a good time was had by all. It takes a lot of time to put on this sort of event but it also takes help from people like you. Your support makes this ride possible. Thank you. - Best regards, Gordon

STARS GOLF CLASSIC - June 23, 2010
Dear Mr. Valentine,
On behalf of everyone at STARS, the Lions CLub of Calgary and the Golf Classic Committee, we would like to thank you for your support of the 7th Annual STARS Lions Golf Classic. Your donation of a GPS is greatly appreciated and contributed to the success of the 2010 tournament. See letter here!
-Pam

10 Years of Geocaching (GC23V6M) - May 1, 2010
Hi Holly, our 10 Years of geocaching event (GC23V6M) was a great success on the weekend with 185 attendees. We would once again like to thank you for donating the Magellan Triton GPS for our event. I am attaching a group photo from our event and also a photo of the awarding of the GPS that you donated. The person in the white tshirt (geocaching name CacheCoeur) was the winner of the GPS prize.
- Ralph Schuessele (res2100) Treasurer - Ontario Geocaching Association

Calgary Cache and Release Winter 2010 (CCARW10) - May 1, 2010
Hi, I just wanted to thank you for the ammo can prize that GPS Central donated to the Calgary Cache and Release Winter 2010 (CCARW10) geocaching event. We won the can for hiding the "Best Child-Friendly Cache." Opening the can and seeing all the extra supplies, swag, and other goodies was a big bonus. What a generous donation! We look forward to hiding the cache soon, but first we have to find a special location for such a fine container. Thanks, too, for your continuing sponsorship of Calgary's CAR events. It's very much appreciated. - Best, Jason Cheever and Wendy Powell ("CanadianRockies")

Hi, I'd just like to say thank you for your donation to the 10 Years Calgary Geocaching event. I won the GPS! - outforthehunt

Good afternoon, George. We have arrived back from our celebration lunch at Nick's. It was very well attended, and people appreciated your contributions to our event.
I am pleased to say that one of our caches won the best in its class, and the prize was one of your ammo cans. Please accept my thanks for this prize. My wife had her name drawn for the fire tacks, and she wishes to thank you for that donation as well.
I hope that your mother is doing well. - Cheers, Larry

Hi there! I am very grateful for the nice prize that I won and which you donated to the Calgary Cache and Release Winter 2010 event this weekend. I had an absolute blast competitively hiding and finding caches for almost a solid 24 hours and I have many, very happy memories of a well-run event with friendly, like-minded and spirited friends! Thankfully the good weather lasted the whole weekend, and all three events that I managed to attend were lively with enthusiastic and excited Geocachers. We found a lot of ingenious Geocaches, lots of mud and deep snow banks, some greasy protein at the wrong times and laughs! Winning prizes at the end of it all was the cherry on top of the icing on the rich, multi-layered, butter-cream-filled cake (mmm… yum!). - Thank you! Miles Finlay

Geocaching Pitch-In - April 17th & 24th, 2010
Dear Holly, Thank you for your support of our Geocaching Pitch-In event on April 17th and 24th, 2010. Our teams removed 500kg of garbage from the streets of Chilliwack / Rosedale areas. We also removed lots of pop / beer bottles and cans. Your support was appreciated by everyone and helped make the day a total success. Once again, thank you for your support. - Thank you, Sue Sandar

Project Lynx- November 30, 2009
Hello George,
Thank you so much for willing to be a sponsor tor Project Lynx. I am project leader on this endeavor based out of the University of Alberta. I research lynx movement and dispersal. We are currently radiocollaring and tracking lynx in Nordegg, AB as well as conducting DNA analysis from harvested lynx pelts all over AB and BC.... Here is a link to our website which describes the project in detail ... and a link to the University of ALberta Laboratory that is our home base.... -Gabriela

Boys and Girls Club of Calgary - November 14, 2009
"Dear George Valentine, Thank you for your support of the Boys and Girls Club of Calgary fifth annual Heroes and Legends fundraising. This year, we raised more than $226,000 in support of Safe House, a shelter facility providing short-term housing and basic needs for youth ages 15-19, who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. With your help, the youth at Safe House gained confidence through sharing their individual stories, as well as gain further access to the tools and resources needed to transition into the community as self-sufficient adults. ... Thank you for making Boys and Girls Clubs of Calgary a good place to be."

GPS Central in the Calgary Herald! - October 7, 2009
Our COO, George Valentine, fielded a few questions from a Calgary Herald reporter about family geocaching.

Calgary Cache and Release - September 24, 2009
GPS Central is proud to be a major sponsor for the 2009 Calgary Cache and Release event on September 24. There's still time to get involved! Head over to their website and become part of the fun.

Runners' Edge 2009: Calgary's Running Expo - June 13, 2009
The University of Calgary's Kinesiology Department put on an excellent expo for runners this year (called Runners' Edge) that focused on how to ensure you've got the right gear to enhance your training. We sent Jason down to check it out and to make a presentation on the new Forerunner 405CX units which are sure to be a hit with any serious runner.

Alberta Annual Highway Cleanup (Red Deer Geocachers CITO Event) - May, 2009
On May 2, the Red Deer Geocachers participated in the annual Alberta highway clean up program as their Cache In Trash Out event. To help support these geocachers and their event we sent some t-shirts and ball caps. Check out the cake they made for the event in our Photo Gallery!

Cheap Tickets Canada's Cross-Country Adventure - Summer, 2009
From May 30 to August 1, 2009 Cheap Tickets Canada.com President, Normand Schafer and his family of 8 are embarking on a 17,000 km, high tech trip across Canada and the USA to uncover some of the greatest places to visit. The trip starts in Victoria and travels to the East Coast of Canada before heading back through the Northern United States. To help them on their journey we've supplied them with a Garmin nuvi 265WT and a GlobalSat DG-100 data logger. Check out the Photo Gallery to see a pic from when they stopped by to say "hi"!

Northern Manitoba Event Cache - May, 2009
"Thank you so much for donating prizes to out event! We had great weather. Nights and mornings were quite chilly but the days were just perfect! We had night caches Friday, Saturday and Sunday this year. The rain on Sunday night didn't dampen anyone's spirits though! As promised, we've attached some pictures. Thanks again for donating prizes! Cache on! - Muffet (aka Deb)" See more in the Photo Gallery!

CITO 2009! - May, 2009
Cache In Trash Out! We like to support geocaching and a green planet so of course we love to help out the folks who participate in CITO events. This year we helped out a team in PA clean up an illegal dumpsite in Fairchance, Fayette County, PA. They cleaned up 4.88 garbage and 4.39 tires (about 450 tires). Great work guys!

Proud Sponsor: Team H&R Block - KONA - March, 2009
Established in 2006, Team H&R Block is a semi-pro racing team committed to promoting the sport of cycling across Canada. The Team races at the elite level through focusing on the development of young riders so that they can achieve their dreams of competing at the highest levels of the sport. The Team is dedicated to supporting our riders - many of whom have competed and won National Championships, Provincial Championships, and numerous other events across Canada and the U.S, and who aspire to race and compete for a professional team. The roster of young riders currently boasts National Team members and Provincial Champions with a strong level of commitment to community involvement, race organization, and leadership activities.

Proud Sponsor: Mac's Motorsports Driver Randy Thompson - February 30, 2009
Not only are we here at GPS Central proud to sponsor Randy Thompson of Mac's Motorsports and get our logo on his super awesome race car, but we are also happy to have been able to give away a FREE Garmin nuvi 765T to Rick Hanson who stopped by to see Randy at the World of Wheels in Calgary and pick up a ballot to win. Congrats Rick! Hope you like your new nuvi!

Fuel for School - December, 2008
This Christmas we decided to raise money for "Fuel for School", a Calgary Board of Education program that helps hungry elementary students get a nutritional breakfast before school each day. A full belly helps students pay attention so they can fill their mind.

Canadian Owners and Pilots Association - July 29, 2008
"Dear Mr Valentine, On behalf of Ian Basson, COPA Flight 75 Captain and Convention Lead Organizer of the 2008 COPA Convention as well as the Board of Directors, all convention attendees and COPA members across Canada, I would like to thank you for yur contribution as a sponsor of the 2008 COPA Convention." Read letter!

Above + Beyond - June 7, 2008
This summer, two pilots will paramotor 3000 kilometers from Dawson City, Yukon to Salmo, British Columbia, creating an eye-opening documentary of what mass deforestation looks like today while showering these dead zones with seeds of alpine flowers native to those regions. GPS Central is noted as a sponsor for the flight on the website. (GPS Central donated 3 Garmin GPSMAP 76S's. We trying to figure out how to get to the Salmo music festival to watch these pilots complete the journey...)

Cancervive Peleton Project (CPP) Ride 2008 - June 7, 2008
We donated 7 nuvi 260W's for a 9-day, 24-hour cycling relay from Calgary to Philadelphia. The event raises funds for Wellspring Calgary - in support of the local Cancer Survival programs. Event date: August 2008. View progress

Calgary Women's Emergency Shelter - June 6, 2008
"Mr. Valentine, I want to extend a sincere thank you for GPS Central's generous donation at our inaugural Turning Points Non-Gala May 8th. We were overwhelmed with the tremndous community support for the work we do in ending family violence in our community. We are thrilled to report you have helped us net the largest fundrasing total in the history of the 14-year Turning Points legacy. This year's Non-Gala raised just over $450,000. An amazing accomplishment!

Terry Fox Foundation, Tour of Hope - May 30, 2008 *DAY 1*
"You have heard of the Van that accompanied Terry Fox on his Marathon of Hope. It has been fully restored by Ford of Canada and is currently on its own journey west, starting from St John's, NL supported by the employees of ScotiaMcLeod." -Onne de Boer
GPS Central sent a Garmin nuvi 760 for use in the ORIGINAL van! See the Tour of Hope blog.

Northern Lights Wildlife Shelter - April 26, 2008
"Hey Roxie, Thank you so much for donating the Topo Canada software for our Grizzly release program. It got here and it is great! We will release our grizzly at the end of June, I promise you will get some good pics then. Until then the grizzly will stay in our enclosure here and I will run around with my GPS getting real familiar with it before I hit the woods following our grizzlies... Attached is a picture on which you can see Suzie, one of the grizzlies, in her enclosure. You can see that she is excited to be out in the wild again soon. So, thanks again and you ll hear from me. " - Joachim Treptow www.wildlifeshelter.com

Team Diabetes - April 5, 2008
"Hello George, Thank you so much for getting back to me and donating the Forerunner 305. There are over 2 million Canadians living with Diabetes today and with help from people like yourself , the money raised from donations go towards helping make their lives a little easier. Below is all my mailing info etc.. should you need to reach me at anytime. Again, thank you." - Dale Brownlee, Team Diabetes

River Shiver 2008 - March 3, 2008
"Dear Mr. George Valentine, On behalf of Rocky Mountain Land Cruiser Association (RMLCA), its club members, and the River Shiver 2008 participants, we would like to express our sincerest appreciation and thank all of our sponsors for their contributions, sponsorship and commitment to this Calgary area event, our club and the 4WD community. More pics in the Photo Gallery!

Osprey Lake Retreat - January 30, 2008
"Hello again, thanks so much for accepting my offer. I'm positive I will expand ... the whole concept of 'geo cache' and high tech treasure hunting [in this area with]...... the GPSMAP 76 CSx [with Topo Canada maps]." - Bruce Merit

Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta - January 24, 2008
A Legend HCx goes to the Parents' Quest for The Cure 2008 Auction Gala, under the category of geocaching. (Last year's event raised $100,000 for childhood cancer research.) "Thank you so much for your generous donation of a GPS for our gala on March 15th " - Ruth Wylie | See note

29th Annual Western Canada Logistics Tournament - January 17, 2008
"I wish to acknowledge the receipt of the 5 Garmin GPS units, 30 T-shirts and 8 beer cooler covers that your company graciously donated in support of our golf tournament." -CR Gerber, Vice ChairThe 4 Wing Cold Lake Logistics organization is hosting the tournament 20-22 August 2008. (The Logistics organizations consist of support units responsible for construction, vehicle maintenance, transportation, food purchase and preparation, financial management, purchasing, repair and maintenance of facilities. Attendees are members from CFB Calgary, Edmonton, Wainwright, Moose Jaw, Suffield, Winnipeg, Yellowknife, Shilo and Cold Lake.) The tournament offers R&R for troops before they head back to Afganistan. View letter!

Calgary Interfaith Food Bank - December 22, 2007
We donated donated $1000 and had a “T for 5” store campaign where we gave away T-Shirts for a $5.00 donation to the Food Bank – customers filled our jar several times over, and unloaded coin, to the tune of $669.82. >>>> TOTAL: $1669.82!The 2007 CBC/Petro-Canada Food Bank Drive raised more than ONE MILLION DOLLARS - the largest amount to date. The goal was $700,000 - fundraising thermometer ... busted!

Fame for Food - December 1, 2007
This event raised over $250,000 for the Calgary Interfaith Food Bank. We brought food and money, then we got a moment of fame. "On behalf of our sponsors... we thank you again for your generous donation to the Fame for Food Program and the Calgary Food Bank." - From the Citytv Crew [all taped greetings aired beginning Dec 9] View letter

City of Calgary, Land Information and Mapping Recruitment Drive - Oct 22, 2007
Land Information and Mapping (LIM) manages The City of Calgary's spatial data and infrastructure information by surveying, mapping, GIS, computer assisted drafting, data base management, consulting, marketing and stewardship of key City interests. We donated a Garmin eTrex H to help with LIM's recruiting efforts at local career fairs in November (The City of Calgary, SAIT) for GIS Analysts/Cartographers, Survey Personnel, Geomatics Technicians, CAD Operators).

GeOCanada2: Landon Bay Environmental Centre - June 28, 2007
Dear Sir, The GeOCanada2 planning committee would like to thank you for your recent donation to our annual gathering. The event was held last weekend with almost 100 people in attendance from Ottawa to Montreal to Toronto. The extra income from campers provided much needed revenue for The Landon Bay Environmental Centre. Thanks to your generosity and that of other local sponsors, the prize table was a overwhelming success that will ensure the return of many satisfied visitors.We appreciate your support and thank you once again for helping. - Regards, John Cooke

Habitat for Humanity - June 7, 2007
The Thomas Family receives a Garmin GPSMAP 478 to help with road navigation on the journey from Calgary AB Canada to Santiago, Chile. The Thomases are working on and advocating for Habitat projects along the way. "Thank you for supporting Justin and Kim Thomas and family as they prepare for their long drive..." - Wayne deJong, VP Strategic and International Partnerships View letter & brochure!>

Motorcycle Ride for Dad - May 10, 2007
"Thank you so much for your help making the first annual Ride for Dad such a great event! Over $44,000 was raised in pledges alone." - The Ride for Dad Committee. Motorcyclists in cities all over Canada are rallying June 2, 2007 to raise funds for Prostate Cancer. We sponsored this event with a classic GPS V - NOH which was given as a prize. See note

Halifax Regional Search and Rescue - May 2, 2007
"The continued support of local organizations such as yours has permitted Eco-Endurance Challenge 2007 to once again be a truly successful event..." - Kelvin King and Chris Richards View letter

McKenzie-Smith Bennett School (Apr 25, 2007)
With discounted GPS receivers, two teachers incorporate geocaching into geography, math, history and English units. Thank you note & article

Calgary Area Geocachers, CITO - April 14, 2007
"Just a quick note to thank you all again for the wonderful donation of the GPSr, the discounted T shirts and the freebies!! We had an awesome event with about 80+ people attending in beautiful sunny weather in Edworthy Park: People wore their T shirts with pride: Picked up loads of trash: And were really happy when they won: Thank you!! We’ll do the event again in October!" - Miles Finlay Check the pics!

St Albert Geocachers, CITO - April 14, 2007
"I'm writing to express my thanks for the generous donation you provided for the CITO I organized on Saturday. The event was a resounding success, with 35-40 attendees. We had the park cleaned top to bottom with an hour to spare. Everybody really appreciated the donations, and said to thank you on their behalf. Please feel free to log your attendance at this CITO, as your donations were instrumental in its success." - Ron Heigh

Alberta GeocoinFest - Mar 2, 2007
Thanks again for the prizes, they went over very well and were appreciated. - David Papp Check the pics!

Bryon Enns - Jan 16, 2007
2006 UCI Masters Down Hill WORLD MOUNTAIN BIKE CHAMPION
Bryon was sponsored for the 2007 season with an Edge 305 Garmin GPS unit. More about Bryon in Photo Gallery!

Canadian Journal, IAFF - Nov, 2006
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIREFIGHTERS

The Fire Fighters members magazine is published with advertising revenue alone. (The International Association of Fire Fighters represents more than 287,000 full-time professional fire fighters and paramedics. More than 3,100 affiliates and their members protect communities in every state in the United States and in Canada.) We supported the Canadian Journal with a 1/4 page $500 print ad. View certificate

Queen's Mostly Autonomous Sailboat Team - Aug, 2006
ENGINEERING SOCIETY, QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY (KINGSTON ON)

"I am writing on behalf of the mostly automomous Sailboat Team to thank you for your support for our 2005/2006 season. Our success and progress could not have happened without your support." -Mark Callaway, MAT Project Manager. The Mostly Autonomous Sailboat Team (MAST) designs and builds a 2m long sailboat that can be sailed with no external control. The boat, when completed, should navigate and hoist and trim sails as necessary. View plaque

GPS IN THE COMMUNITY: Our Donations & Sponsorships