Something amazing is scheduled to take place in Maple Ridge, starting Saturday at noon.

On June 9 The Caring Place is hosting its own version of TV's Amazing Race.

The Amazing Adventure was born from The Caring Place staff members' affection for the popular TV show.

Amazing Race is a reality TV game show in which teams of two people, who have some form of a relationship, race around the world in competition with other teams. Contestants strive to arrive first at "pit stops" using various forms of transportation.

The Caring Place staff thought it would be unique to bring something similar to the Amazing Race to Maple Ridge, said public relations coordinator Amelia Norrie, who is the event director.

"We also wanted to produce an event that is different from the 'usual suspect' fundraisers and thought that the Amazing Adventure would fall in line well with what we're raising money for this year, our Sonia's Cradle camp program," Norrie said. "We live in a beautiful place, and often we forget this, and so we wanted to highlight the natural beauty of Maple Ridge as well by making the event outdoors oriented."

The Amazing Adventure is a challenge, but organizers have kept in mind that "challenge" means different things to different people.

Where there's a more physical task, teams of four will be divided into two, with a second activity being less physical.

The route itself is top secret, but Norrie promises it will be "wonderful."

The Amazing Adventure is geared to families with teenaged kids, businesses looking for team-building opportunities, youth groups, and people who want to get out into the outdoors and raise money for the cause.

Norrie spent a lot of time exploring what Maple Ridge has to offer while she was on maternity leave last year, and said she was astounded by what's in her own backyard.

When her director, Darrell Pilgrim, brought up the idea of producing this event, Norrie's mind immediately jumped to all the places in which she'd spent time during her leave.

She incorporated a lot of these places with the event route, and believes it's "worked out really well in terms of the flow," especially with the event's home-base being Memorial Peace Park, planted in the heart of downtown.

Proceeds from the Amazing Adventure are earmarked for The Salvation Army Caring Place Sonia's Cradle program and specifically, its youth camp.

"We absorb about 30 per cent of the costs of sending our 70 campers to Camp Sunrise on the Sunshine Coast each year, and we're hoping that this year, the Amazing Adventure can help to cover some of this deficit," Norrie said.

The camp focuses on atrisk youth, who may not have the type of home-life that would allow them to go to summer camp.

"We try to identify these kids and send them to camp in the summer, so that they can just 'be kids' for a change," Norrie said.

Organizers also want to raise awareness about what The Salvation Army is doing in Maple Ridge.

"If we can raise some extra funds at the same time, it's a bonus," Norrie said.

"Our community is incredibly generous at Christmastime to our cause, and we're hoping that this generosity can be translated to the summertime so that we can do this event annually for a very long time."

The event is expected to draw about 100 participants and spectators, with between 30 and 40 volunteers donating their time and efforts.

"We're pumped!" enthused Norrie. "My director and I have a checkin daily about registration and logistics and over the past three weeks a real buzz is starting to happen around the event. We can feel it, and we talk about how pumped we are for it every day, after we go over the nitty-gritty details."

To register, contact amelia.norrie@caringplace.ca or 604-463-8296.

tlandreville@mrtimes.com