5000 MEMBERS!
This is a threshold that few of us old-timers thought possible!
I joined the board of this organization in 2009 and when I took over as President in 2010, we were down to 30 paid members provincially. We had $200 in our budget, as the remaining $2000 was reserved so we could not go broke! We had two events: the West Stave cleanup and the West Harrison Beginner Stock Run.
15 years later, over 5000 members have put down their $30/year to show they trust us to represent them. That includes close to 70 companies that support us; hundreds and hundreds of active volunteers; dozens of Regional Representatives taking care of rec sites and fire towers as well as advocating for our interests; an education program that trains 300 people per year over 36 days of training; a kids’ program that brings the joy of wheeling to families in the great outdoors; dozens of days per year interfacing with the public at tradeshows; dozens of days per year improving free-to-use rec sites for the general public; more dozens of days per year for newbie 4×4 runs where people learn about traveling safely and responsibly in the back country, their vehicle, and themselves; activity and events in all nine regions of this massive province; and it goes on and on!
And more importantly, we have one hell of a community that our members continue to build.
Community is really our secret sauce! Our members know that when they see our sticker in the window of a rig, that is their friend! We know that they will help us and we will help them. We will improve our little corner of the world for everyone and we will do it together!
15000% growth over 15 years, or 150 times bigger than we were in 2010. Those numbers are incredible! I mean really, is there a logo sticker in the province more prevalent on vehicles than the 4WDABC?
There are so many people to thank for their efforts to get us here. Personally, I have been honoured to work with so many great teams of people on our Board over these years and this current Board of Directors is the cream of the crop! Thank you to our members and volunteers for joining and continuing to build our community!
Thank you to our Regional Reps and our Board of Directors for your efforts to unsure our community continues to be healthy and grow and do great things.
Here is to the best community out there: the Four Wheel Drive Association of BC!
Kim Reeves, 4WDABC President
My uncle Teddy Smythe was a FWDABC member in the 80s, with his life, and kids, and working way too much he rarely went wheeling.
My first 4WDABC Event was a Stave lake clean up in the early 2010’s however I didn’t become a member until 2015ish maybe 2017, I attended some events prior to becoming a member,with all the grief I put the admins through with my online presence, the least I could do, was stay a paid member of the group, and I promote the heck out of the group evey chance I get. My original “aluminum dash decal” resides on the back of my cell phone Otterbox case, and has been moved from case to case. Its really kinda beatup.
I now like my uncle rarely have time to wheel, and I drive a minivan… although looking for an AWD minivan again.. 😉
Fantastic article. The FWDA of BC is a great group of people. Thank you for all you do.
What a fabulous milestone! Congratulations!!!
I joined the Association many years ago, even before the leadership of Kim and his much-appreciated colleagues who have dedicated themselves to this cause. The nature of our membership is somewhat antagonistic towards “organization” and political causes – we are, after all, getting into vehicles that allow us to escape the urban ant nest and restrictions, and lose ourselves in nature. The freedom to get away from society even for just a little while, and the almost spiritual grounding that we are able to access by way of this recreational pastime was something that, historically, BC residents had the privilege of enjoying without the need for something like the Association.
Times changed. Urban-based mindsets devalued our passion, with the focus on urbanization and the security of a regulated and controlled environment. There are too many people in the world who consider a city to be “safe” and wilderness to be “unsafe”. Regrettably, these values have been reflected in people in positions of authority in our government. While it may be hard for many of us to believe, there are people who hold positions in government who are at a loss to understand why anyone would want to travel outside of controlled urban environments. You want excitement? Go to the mall, to the ski-hill, to an organized “outdoor adventure playground” – where you pay money to enjoy controlled and “safe” adventure. I’m not intending to slag all of the legit businesses who operate in these areas, but not every adventure needs a safety harness, a trail-guide, a “rules spokesperson”, a supervisor and a signed waiver. I much prefer the Association’s approach of educating people to allow them to develop skills that help them keep themselves safe, with the goal of allowing those graduating from its various courses to explore the wilderness with improved confidence and abilities.
With much hard work the Association has come to be recognized as an important tool for people who value what we all love to do: a means by which we can rally together and advance our collective interest in maintaining access to BC wilderness, with education about responsible enjoyment of the resource to maintain it for future generations.
Thanks to all for coming together to give us a unified voice that helps to preserve a lifestyle that is worth preserving. I hope that our membership continues to grow, as more and more people come to recognize the value of “getting away” in our own backyard.
Thanks for the kind words, Dale! We greatly appreciate your support for all these years!