'We finally did it': Drone operators raise money for veterans with Sunday race

A group of drone pilots are using their hobby to fight hunger.

On Sunday, the grocery aisles of the food bank at the Veterans Association of Edmonton became a race course for micro drones.

Six pilots paid an entry fee, in the form of a donation to the food bank, for the chance to race their through shelves at up to 40 kilometres an hour.

"It's a rush," said one organizer, Martin Vendrame. "Even though they are very small, they move pretty fast so you have to have very good skills to be able to control these drones and fly through tight spaces.

"And then you also have to know how to fix them when you crash them."

Vendrame, who served in the Canadian Armed Forces for six years, said Sunday's event was the culmination of close to a year of work by a group of drone operators sharing a love of racing.

"It's been quite a while in the making, but we finally did it. So we're pretty excited about that," Vendrame said.

The group chose the food bank because it's the right size for a race and offers some interesting obstacles that pilots wouldn't normally get to fly though, like grocery aisles.

They believe it's the first indoor drone racing event in Edmonton.

"It makes it fun for pilots to fly around different things," Vendrame said, adding that zooming around in your basement or garage can get a little boring.

"Having actual events like this gets people to come out, grow the community and so it's a lot of fun," he added.

'VETERANS HELPING VETERANS'

Bob Cotton, operations manager of the Veterans Association said he was hesitant about the idea at first but came around quickly.

"This is fantastic, I've actually taken a couple of videos myself," Cotton said. "It is pretty interesting."

The micro drones measure around 65 millimetres in diameter and can't do much damage, plus Cotton said the event is a great way for veterans to connect and do some good for the community.

"Our motto is veterans helping veterans, so whatever veterans are interested in is what we're interested in," he added.

In addition to the food bank, the association offers several programs to assist veterans with things like housing, mental health and peer support.

More than 1,000 veterans in Alberta are helped by the association, Cotton said, and he hopes the race will bring in even more former members of the armed forces who might know help is available.

"That's exactly what we try to do, try and spread the awareness," Cotton said. "Most importantly we need food to feed veterans, we also need monetary donations as well to run some of our programs."

There was no real prize for the fastest pilot Sunday, Vendrame said, but there were some winners.

"I did bring a bunch of boxes of stickers," he added. "But I think the prize is just actually having the event today and doing it."

In the future, Vendrame said the group are hoping to start an official drone racing club and hold regular events in Edmonton.

The Veterans Association is also holding a fundraising raffle, with a new summer travel trailer as the prize. More information on that can be found here. 

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Miriam Valdes-Carletti.