The Capital Regional District Traffic Safety Commission has awarded its inaugural Const. Sarah Beckett Memorial Scholarship to Tanner Stevenson.
The award took place this month at a Victoria Shamrocks game with West Shore RCMP and Beckett鈥檚 family in attendance.
The scholarship honours Beckett, who lost her life in an automobile crash in 2016. The commission created the scholarship to raise awareness of traffic-safety issues and highlight the community service provided by police.
鈥淭his scholarship acknowledges the loss of Const. Beckett and recognizes the vital role police play in service for our community, including increasing traffic safety,鈥� said Colin Plant, chairman of the Traffic Safety Commission.
鈥淭anner has clearly demonstrated his dedication to his community with his volunteer work. This scholarship recognizes Tanner as he continues to work hard in school, pursuing his goal of becoming a police officer.鈥�
Stevenson will be attending Royal Roads in September to complete a bachelor鈥檚 degree in criminal justice. His interest in policing has led him to become an infantryman in the Canadian Armed Forces Reserve and a volunteer with the Saanich Police Reserves.
The commission will award a $2,000 scholarship annually to a post-secondary student based on demonstrated academic achievement, financial need, community service and an expressed interest in pursuing a career in law enforcement.
This year鈥檚 award was supplemented with donations collected by the Victoria Shamrocks organization.
The commission is responsible for traffic-safety education programs and makes recommendations to the CRD board to improve road safety in the region.
For more information, go to crdtrafficsafety.ca.
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Tiny Hogarth needs love and a home
The sa国际传媒 SPCA is appealing for help to give a badly neglected dog a second chance at a happy life 鈥� and home.
Hogarth is a seven-year-old shih tzu who arrived at the SPCA in extreme pain and fearful that any touch would hurt. He was so matted that the skin one of his legs was decayed and his teeth were so badly diseased he couldn鈥檛 eat properly; he was consequently underweight.
鈥淗is leg was black and necrotic 鈥� he couldn鈥檛 bear any weight on it and was in a lot of pain,鈥� said Annie Prittie Bell, the society鈥檚 Victoria branch manager. 鈥淒espite everything he鈥檚 been through, Hogarth is such a sweetheart. He bonds fast to people and just wants to be held and cuddled.鈥�
In addition to losing one of his front legs, Hogarth will need special skin treatment for other wounds on his tiny body, as well as dental surgery due to severe dental rot.
The medical costs related to his care and recovery are expected to exceed $5,000.
鈥淲e just want to give this cuddle-bug a second chance at a better, pain-free life,鈥� said Bell, noting Hogarth will be available for adoption once he has recovered from his surgeries. 鈥淗e can still live a long and active life as a 鈥榯ri-pawed鈥� furry family member, and he has so much love to give.鈥�
A non-profit organization, the sa国际传媒 SPCA relies primarily on public donations to help the province鈥檚 vulnerable animals.
If you can help Hogarth and other animals like him visit spca.bc.ca/medicalemergency or donate in person at the office at 3150 Napier Ln.
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Donation brings PET scanner purchase closer
The sa国际传媒 Cancer Foundation鈥檚 campaign to bring a positron emission tomography scanner, commonly known as a PET/CT scanner, to Victoria is closer to its goal, thanks to a donation from a local construction company.
Last month, Kinetic Construction donated $23,000 to the charity toward the scanner, which produces three-dimensional images of the body. It is useful in diagnosing cancers of the head, neck, esophagus, lungs and lymph nodes.
鈥淭he scanner is the most precise diagnostic tool available today, and we are grateful to Kinetic Construction for helping families receive the most advanced care, closer to home,鈥� said Alyssa Grace, the foundation鈥檚 senior director of development.
鈥淭hanks to the incredible generosity of donors, we are now three-quarters of the way to achieving our goal of bringing a revolutionary PET/CT scanner to the sa国际传媒 Cancer Agency Vancouver Island Centre.鈥�
Currently, the sa国际传媒 Cancer Agency operates the only two publicly funded PET/CT scanners in sa国际传媒 鈥� both in Vancouver.
鈥淭he need for a PET/CT scanner in the Victoria area hit close to home for us this year, after we lost one of our own to cancer,鈥� said Tom Plumb, Kinetic鈥檚 president and CEO. 鈥淲e hope the ability to access this technology can help others detect the disease sooner.鈥�
Last year, 1,371 patients travelled from Vancouver Island to Vancouver for the scans 鈥� up from 464 in 2010 and the number is expected to keep rising.
Every year, Kinetic hosts a golf tournament and auction to raise money for local charities. This year, the event raised $23,000.
鈥淭he success of this event, year after year, demonstrates what a great group of people we have at Kinetic,鈥� said Mark Liudzius, the company鈥檚 Victoria branch manager. 鈥淭he act of giving back is an important part of who we are.鈥�
Other local recipients of the company鈥檚 fundraising efforts were HeroWork, Inspire Health and Our Place. In the past two years, the company has donated more than $150,000 to charity, including $75,000 to Camosun College.
The Cancer Foundation is more than halfway toward its goal of raising $5 million, with donors contributing $3.2 million since fundraising kicked off last December. Thrifty Foods has committed $1 million over three years toward the purchase.
The sa国际传媒 Cancer Agency is the lead in buying and installing PET scanners; funding comes from a partnership with the sa国际传媒 Cancer Foundation and the Provincial Health Services Authority.
PET scans detect changes in the activity of cells, something that often indicates the presence of disease. CT scans detect changes in the size or shape of a lesion and show exactly where a lesion is located. By combining these two imaging technologies into a single scanner, the presence of cancer can be more easily detected and its location pinpointed.
Kinetic Construction is an employee-owned construction firm with offices in Victoria, Courtenay and Richmond.
The sa国际传媒 Cancer Foundation is the fundraising partner of the sa国际传媒 Cancer Agency and the largest funder of cancer research in British Columbia.
For more information, go to bccancerfoundation.com.
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Two churches remember pioneer families
Take a tour of one cemetery or help clean up another as two churches remember the pioneer families of the region, today and Saturday.
The District of Metchosin Heritage Committee is hosting a cemetery tour at the St. Mary the Virgin Church today.
Visitors will receive maps and view displays on early pioneer farmers of the area. You can take part in a guided tour with a quiz and listen to live harp and keyboard music in the parish hall.
Light refreshments will also be served.
The event is free to attend. It runs 2 to 5 p.m. today at the church, 4335 Metchosin Rd.
For more details, call Gaert at 250-514-9750.
On Saturday, you can join other volunteers during their monthly community cemetery cleanup at St. Luke Cedar Hill historic cemetery.
People can help clean headstones, and weed and clean graves. Tools are available, or bring your own gloves, pruners, clippers, hoes or scrapers.
Refreshments will be served.
All help will be greatly appreciated. The event runs 8:30 to 11听a.m. Saturday at the church, 3821听Cedar Hill Cross Rd.
For more information, go to stlukesvictoria.ca/events/ community-cleanup-of-st-lukes-churchyard/2017-08-26.
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Community comes together to paint
See how Victoria鈥檚 most needy have added colour to art and helped to promote awareness and create conversation on issues of poverty and homelessness at the Collaborative Community Art Show, Aug. 31 at the Public Market at the Hudson.
The show is an opportunity to bring the community together in artistic expression to raise both awareness and funds for Anawim House.
Throughout the summer, canvases have been set up outside Anawim House and at community events. The canvases began their journey as sketches created by art students from St. Andrews School and members of the street community who use Anawim鈥檚 services.
The collection of at least 30听images represent life, empowerment, hope and growth but start as dark, charcoal shadows until the community paints colourful life upon them.
鈥淭he aim of the art show is to bring our community together and prove that we are all equal, we all have hopes, dreams, and voices that need to be shared,鈥� said Terry Edison-Brown, Anawim鈥檚 director.
During local events such as Pride Parade, Moss Street Paint-in, North Park Festival and HarbourCats games, the canvases were set up for anyone to paint on.
As each piece was added to, a record of names, photos and stories was compiled. On the day of the show, the exhibit will document the members of the community who helped create it.
The pieces will be auctioned off at the art show to raise funds for Anawim鈥檚 programs.
鈥淟ast year鈥檚 show was a great success and brought an enormous sense of pride to the street community, showing there is a community for them and we, the people of Victoria are it,鈥� said Rob Hurst, manager at Anawim House.
The Anawim Collaborative Community Art Show starts at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 31 at the Public Market at the Hudson, 1701 Douglas St. The display and auction continues through Sept. 10.
Anawim provides drop-in services and transitional living to the homeless and people living in poverty. For more information, go to anawimhouse.com.
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Give a wave to听MS听bikers听today
If you are out and about today in the Cowichan Valley, make sure you wave at the cyclists taking part in the MS Bike Cowichan Valley Experience, a fundraiser for the MS Society of sa国际传媒.
Cyclists from Vancouver Island and all over British Columbia will come together for MS Bike to demonstrate their power in helping to change the lives of Canadians living with multiple sclerosis.
MS Bike is the largest fundraising cycling series in North America, with the second of four sa国际传媒 tours happening this weekend in Mill Bay.
MS Bike is more than a bike ride 鈥� it is a tour through local vineyards, wineries, cideries and farms throughout the southeast coast of Vancouver Island.
Cyclists have the option to visit the historic Kinsol Trestle, have tastings at 10 world-class local wineries and sample the products of several local farms.
This year鈥檚 event is hosted by Brentwood College School.
sa国际传媒 has the highest rate of multiple sclerosis in the world. MS is a chronic, often disabling disease of the central nervous system, comprising the brain, spinal cord and optic nerve.
For more information, go to mssociety.ca.
