Write on!
Two Vancouver Island students were runners-up in Habitat for Humanity Canada’s annual Meaning of Home writing contest.
The contest encourages students in grades 4, 5 and 6 to share what home means to them through a poem or short essay.
This year, it attracted more than 12,000 submissions and raised $300,000 for Habitat for Humanity organizations across Canada, including close to $13,000 for Habitat for Humanity Victoria.
There are three grand prize winners, one from each grade, who win a $30,000 grant toward their local Habitat for Humanity build, and nine runners-up, who win a $10,000 grant.
On Vancouver Island, both Alexandra R., from north Vancouver Island, and Isla V., of North Saanich, were runners up in the Grade 4 section.
When asked what she and her class learned during the writing process, Isla said: “Home isn’t a building, it’s more of a feeling of good memories and fun times. I am lucky to have a home with people and feelings that I love.”
To read all the winning submissions, go to meaningofhome.ca.
Pooch pix
Enter your four-legged best friend in the Vancouver Island Dogs 2022 Calendar Contest, a fundraiser for a Fanny Bay-based charity that matches a rescue or shelter dog with a human partner and trains them to be a service-dog team.
Proceeds from the contest, a partnership with Comox Valley-based Pauliina Saarinen Photography, will benefit Operation Freedom Paws Canada. There will be 13 grand-prize winners — the cover dog and 12 dogs of the month — and six weekly mini-contest winners, plus additional local prize winners. Winners will be determined by the number of votes they receive.
Pauliina Saarinen, founder of the business that bears her name, will photograph the grand prize winners for the calendar, which will be available for purchase in the fall.
To enter the contest, submit a photo of your dog and a $10 donation. The contest runs until July 31.
• For more information and to enter, go to pauliinasaarinen.com/calendar-contest.
• To learn more about Operation Freedom Paws Canada, go to ofpcanada.org.
Soap hope
Soap for Hope Canada has opened Second Hand Hope, a charitable thrift store, to in-person shopping. The store’s inventory consists mainly of donations from their community partners — local hotels.
Profits will be used to provide essential hygiene products to more than 400 community groups and remote communities in British Columbia and Alberta.
Customers can book 30, 45 or 60-minute shopping appointments at Second Hand Hope, which will be open 9 a.m. to 4 p .m. Monday to Friday at 444 William St.
• Go to soapforhopecanada.ca.
Canoe launch for Indigenous Peoples Day
Camosun College launched its own traditional-style Indigenous canoe on National Indigenous Peoples Day Monday during a private smudging ceremony on the Gorge Waterway.
The 11-metre-long canoe came out of the college’s Indigenization and Reconciliation plan that includes 39 actions in response to Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls to action.
“It personally makes me really, really happy,” said Janice Simcoe, director of Eyēʔ Sqȃ’lewen, Camosun’s Centre for Indigenous Education and Community Connections. “This canoe is an exciting project that’s going to give our students and everyone in the Camosun community an opportunity to experience being out on the water and deeply, fully engaging in the kind of experiential learning that occurs when you are truly at one with what you’re doing, and that is so healing and cleansing.”
The canoe’s design is based on the traditional ocean-going canoes used for hundreds of years by many different Indigenous peoples on the Pacific coast of North America. It is adorned with artwork by Dylan Thomas, a Coast Salish artist.
The canoe can hold 18 paddlers plus a helmsperson.
Camosun plans to use it for experiential education and to participate in the annual post-secondary canoe races held each year at Royal Roads University.
The canoe was launched at a private canoe launch ceremony last week, held in accordance with traditional practices.
The ceremony took place at the Victoria Canoe and Kayak Club. The club’s location has special significance to the college, as it is near the remaining part of the ‘Camossung’ rock, the place where the waters and currents meet on the Gorge Waterway, and the inspiration for the Camosun name, according to local Lekwungen legends and teachings.
For more information, go to ce.camosun.ca.
Comments of Kindness
Island Savings and its partner, Langley-based First West Foundation — the philanthropic arm of First West Credit Union — have launched #CommentsOfKindness, the second phase of its Simple Generosity program.
The way it works is that when you thank a local registered charity on the #CommentsOfKindness posts on Island Savings’ Facebook page and Instagram account, First West Foundation will donate $25 to that charity. The registered charity will also be entered in a draw for a $25,000 donation.
A total of $250,000 is available to donate. The program continues until July 20.
Since it began last month, more than $47,000 has been generated for more than 300 registered charities.
“This year has been a challenging one for our community partners with an increased demand for their services combined with fewer opportunities for traditional, in-person fundraising,” said Susan Byrom, executive director at First West Foundation. “This initiative allows us to show our appreciation of the amazing work local charities undertake and is another way we can continue to use our financial co-operative’s organizational strength as a catalyst to help our communities thrive.”
#CommentsOfKindness is part of a $1-million Simple Generosity giving program in 2021. For more information, go to islandsavings.ca/generosity.
Sporting gift
Co-op Community Spaces is donating $75,000 to fund improvements to the Sportsplex public fieldhouse in North Cowichan, including new team changerooms.
“The fieldhouse has been a part of the overall vision for the Sportsplex since day one,” said Chris Jaycox, executive director of the Cowichan Sportsplex. “Now with all the pieces in place, we’re so close to breaking ground. It’s a really exciting time for the users of the facility and the community as a whole.”
Co-op Community Spaces is administered by Federated Co-operatives Limited on behalf of more than 160 independent retail co-operatives across Western Canada.
The giving program will provide $1 million to 15 community projects across Western Canada in 2021. It has supported 147 projects with $10.5 million in capital funding since 2015.
For more information, go to communityspaces.ca.
