About

Kitingforkids is a group of avid kite boarders that have a love for the sport and a desire to make a difference. We raise funds through Kite events. All funds go to the Children's Miracle Network and BC Children's Hospital.  All costs of gear and behind the scene costs are born by the participants & volunteers and use no money that is donated ensuring 100% of donations go to the Hospital.

Ken Droog

Ken and his wife Isabelle came to Vancouver Island 1 years ago and settled down to call it home.  After leaving the corporate world,  Ken and his wife successfully started and sold two businesses on the Island and Ken began his career in Real Estate in 2005 and quickly seeing a successful real estate business they made plans for Isabelle to join him. Now,  they work together at RE/MAX First Realty as Droog & Associates covering all areas of real estate.  Ken and Isabelle already donate to the Children's Miracle Network through every transaction in Real Estate and kitingforkids allows them to further support such a worthy cause and spread Ken's love for the Kite Boarding Sport,  having taken up the sport in 2007 & Having a few close friends and family (Their super cool nephew, Liam, with necrotising pneumonia who ended up with a piece of his lung cut out) utilize the Children's Hospital made the decision real easy to get involved with kitingforkids.  kitingforkids is a platform to funnel charity funds to the Children's Miracle Network and BC Children's Hospital.  With Children's hospitals around the world and the sport being recognized world wide Ken's vision is to see the Kite Boarding community adopt kitingforkids on a Global level.

Harold Grindl

Harold and his wife Anne were both born and raised in Germany, before moving to B.C. over 25 years ago. They have been Vancouver Island residents since 2006 when they moved to Nanoose Bay.   Harold is a father of 2 who runs 3 businesses with his wife in the Parksville / Coombs area.  Harold has been involved in wind sports for over 30 years, first as windsurfer, then sailor, and finally got hooked on kiteboarding 3 years ago. For him, kiting-for-kids serves both as a platform to safely promote this exciting sport, while at the same time being able to help raise funds for an very worthy cause.

John Stathers

Born and raised in B.C., living in Qualicum Beach, John is a father of 3. He attended Simon Fraser University majoring in Urban geography and business and has worked in mgmt for the Jim Pattison group, Save-on-foods division and later on in his career as a Certified Financial Planner for Dundee Wealth mgmt before becoming an independent securities analyst.

John's love for the outdoors has led him to be an avid sailor as well as a certified ski instructor. The transition to kite boarding  was a natural progression to his love for the water. In 2003, at the age of 3, his daughter Emma was diagnosed with Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and was admitted to Children's Hospital in Vancouver. This life threatening form of ITP was urgently treated at Children's and the exemplary care Emma received has left a lasting impression on the family. Being involved with Kiting-for-Kids is a way to raise awareness and donations for such a worthy cause and helping children, in many cases, with life threatening health challenges. 

Allan Berry

Born in North Vancouver in 1964,  Allan moved  from Deep Cove to Nanaimo 19 years ago chasing love.  Married to his lovely wife Evelyn since 1995 , they are proud parents of Kyle and Halle, who attend Dover Secondary.  A graduate of BCIT Allan has worked as a lumber  broker for MacMillian Bloedel  Building Materials, he sold windows and worked in two start-up businesses  before applying his craftsmanship to the art of building custom shutters in his home work shop starting in 1998.  With the shutter business taking off both him and Evelyn recognized the business opportunity  and thus began the birth of West Coast Shutters Blinds & Closets which is now successfully positioned in the home renovation complex at Boban Dr. in Nanaimo.  

Allan loves all outdoor activities and made the switch  from windsurfing to kiteboarding  about 5 years ago.  He regularly makes the same trip from Nanaimo to Sechelt in his boat to visit his parents and has wanted to make the journey by kite for years. Doing  it with a great group of guys and for such a worthy cause makes it all the better. Having friends and people he  knows that have needed the Children's Hospital makes kitingforkids all worth while, noting one small group can make a big difference.

Dennis McDonald

Born and raised in Parksville, with his wife Fiona of 20
years, Dennis has 2 boys, Owen and Ethan.  With a love for fishing from the shore or his boat, he's always got his eye on the water.  He owned a local video store for a number of years, then left the business to build beautiful custom homes with Todsen Design and Construction.  Being fortunate enough to spend the last 8 years building waterfront homes Dennis is never far from the beach.  While on a family vacation in Mexico, Dennis was hooked on kite boarding and had to try it. Meeting up with old friends and new, kite boarding has enabled him to do what he loves while raising money through
KitingforKids for BC Children's Hospital. With family members and close friends' children being patients at Children's Hospital, Kiting-for-Kids is a great opportunity to help families everywhere.

Honorary Member: Sir Richard Branson

Knowing of his charitable nature towards children and love of kite boarding,  kitingforkids has inducted Sir Richard as an Honorary Member of Kitingforkids and he accepted his honorary membership with the kitingforkids team.