Life Cycle is a virtual cycling event in support of the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation and the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation.

You choose your distance and your own route, and all funds raised will directly benefit the vital Child Life programs that support physical, mental and emotional healing of kids from across the prairie provinces.

Life Cycle is virtual and will take place June 1-30, 2024. Cyclists will mount their bikes across Alberta whenever they want throughout the month of June to support kids right here in our province.

Life Cycle is for everyone, whether you’re an avid cyclist or just biking for fun. You can ride around your neighbourhood, down a country road, on a mountain trail, at a spin studio or on your own stationary bike – this is YOUR ride!

All you need to do is sign up. Choose between VIP entry – which comes complete with some awesome perks – or register for free. Choose your distance, set your fundraising goal, then start your challenge! You can also set up a team and get others to join in. You’ll be able to track your progress and donations through your personal fundraising page.

Don't have access to a bike? You can also log your distance goals manually, so if you'd rather walk or run to get your miles in, you can do that too!

You have two options – register for free or choose to be a Life Cycle VIP.  

Free registration includes:  

• personalized fundraising page  
• eligibility to snag rewards if you fundraise $100+   

VIP registration is $100 and includes:  

• $50 towards your fundraising total to get you started (a charitable tax receipt will also be issued) 
• a pair of exclusive Life Cycle cycling socks 
• entry into the VIP prize draw 
• stackable incentive prizes with rewards for every level you reach  
• custom flair for your fundraising page

Once you’ve signed up, you’ll receive a confirmation email with a link to your very own fundraising page. We recommend bookmarking your page for easy access. Once you log in, you can send emails and post on social media to share your goals and ask for support using the built-in templates and tools provided.

Funds raised through Life Cycle will support Child Life programs at both the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton and the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary.  

Child Life specialists work with kids and families to alleviate stress and anxiety during their stay at the hospital. They provide social stimulation, distraction from difficult treatments or procedures, entertainment during lengthy hospital stays, and engaging opportunities for physical, mental, emotional and spiritual healing. Art, music, toys, pets — even friendly robots and clowns can be a part of the Child Life healing strategies.

Don’t worry! Every dollar makes a difference, and you can still help shine a light on the incredible work our Child Life specialists do at the Alberta Children’s Hospital and the Stollery Children’s Hospital. Take a look at our fundraising tips to help you reach and even surpass your goal.

There's no minimum fundraising requirement for Life Cycle, however, you’ll be rewarded for your efforts when you reach fundraising totals of $100, $250, $500 or $1,000, so reach for the stars!

Yes! Everyone whose fundraising total reaches $100 will earn a Life Cycle T-shirt. If your fundraising total continues to grow and reaches the milestones below, you will receive the prize indicated for that level. 

• $250 – entry to win one of ten $50 Lululemon gift cards
• $500 – entry to win one of five $100 grocery gift cards
• $1,000 – entry to wint one of two $250 MEC gift cards

If you choose VIP registration, you’ll receive the prizes from each level reached. For example, if you are a VIP and your final total is $750, we’ll send you the VIP-only swag, the T-shirt, and you get entered in to the draws for Lululemon AND grocery gift cards!

Prizes are for individual fundraising achievements, so if you’re on a team, each individual participant’s totals will determine the prizes earned, regardless of the team’s total.

Participants will have their prizes mailed to the address provided at registration.

Simply email hello@lifecycleforkids.com and we’ll be happy to help!

Your personal fundraising page includes your cycling distance tally so you can track your distance towards your target. This is a great way to keep your friends updated on your workouts!

If you track your workouts with Fitbit, Strava, MapMyFitness or Garmin your distances will automatically add to your tally.

Follow these steps to track your kilometres automatically:

1. Download the Fitbit, Strava, MapMyFitness or Garmin app and set up your account

2. Log in to your Life Cycle account.

3. Under the heading Connect your preferred Fitness app, click your chosen app.

4. Follow the prompts to connect your account

5. When you next work out, select start your workout in the app on your phone. Once you end your workout, save your workout and your distance will be published to the tally on your page the following day.

If you have synced your app already but it is not working, please log in and re-connect it.

• Fitbit: You must start an activity and save it. If no activity is logged, then your cumulative activity will sync at the end of the day. If you are having issues, try syncing through BOTH your Fitbit and the Fitbit app on your smartphone.
• MapMyFitness: You must start your workout, stop your workout and then SAVE your workout. 
• Strava: You must start your workout, stop your workout and then SAVE your workout.
• Garmin: You must start your workout, stop your workout and then SAVE your workout.

Your tally will be updated each day with the previous day’s distances.

Manually adding activity

Remember, you can manually add your exercise to the tally in the My Fitness Activity tab within your logged in dashboard. This is a great option if you’re using a different method of tracking your distances.

Follow these steps to manually add your activity:

1. Log in to your account and select My Fitness Activity.

2. Under Add activity, enter the required fields.

3. The logged activity will now appear on your fundraising page!

Yes! Receipts for donations made online will be sent by email upon processing; offline donations will be processed by the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation and receipts will be mailed to donors. Donations that are the result of an event or are a collection of funds from multiple people are not eligible for tax receipts. Please contact us for more information about processing these donations.

The Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation will manage all cash and cheque donations on behalf of both Foundations. Please send directly to the address below, indicating the funds are for Life Cycle. Once they are processed, they’ll be added to your fundraising page and any eligible donors will be issued a tax receipt. 

Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation – Life Cycle
800 College Plaza
8215 112 Street
Edmonton, AB T6G 2C8

Send us a note at hello@lifecycleforkids.com.