Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary has partnered with Pacific Northwest Raptors to present Birds of Prey on Wednesday at the sanctuary.
This family-friendly event, sponsored by the Victoria Natural History Society, includes live birds of prey, Owl Walks, crafts face-painting and interactive games.
Admission is by donation, with a suggested donation of $5 per person. The event runs noon to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 7, in the Nature House at the sanctuary, 3873 Swan Lake Rd.
Parking is very limited. Additional parking is available at the end of Nelthorpe Street (follow the signs along the trail) and at the end of Swan Lake Road (follow the signs along the boardwalk). The public is encouraged to use alternate transportation. For more information, go to swanlake.bc.ca.
Join Gordy Dodd on the Walk for Peace
Join local businessman and philanthropist Gordy Dodd in an inspirational community walk at the 10th annual Walk for Peace, today at Beacon Hill Park.
This event is inspired by Siri Guru Nanak Dev Ji (1469 to 1539) the founder of Sikhism, who walked thousands of miles through Asia, from Burma to Iraq and North India to South India.
Along the way he preached to everyone regardless of religion, caste or gender.
Partake in a free lunch following the event.
Donations to and proceeds from the event will benefit the Victoria Hospice, which has received more than $50,000 from past events.
The event is supported in part by the Times Colonist, ICCA of Victoria, Sikh Temples, Dodd’s Furniture, Hindu Temple, Muslim association, Khalsa Credit Union and the City of Victoria.
Joining the walk is by donation. Meet at 9, with an introduction at 10 a.m. The walk starts at 11 a.m. from the Bandshell Stage in Beacon Hill Park to Clover Point and back. A vegetarian lunch will be served at noon.
For more information, go to victoriahospice.org.
Artists bring food to the table
Explore the artistic practice of cultivating and cooking food with What Artists Bring to the Table, a new series presented by the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, the first Sunday of the month through November at the Oaklands Community Centre.
Each month, the afternoon food series will delve into how food is both a political and a cultural act.
The event features two components: A hands-on workshop, where participants will work with the artist to make a food product, and a discussion, where participants will have a larger conversation about food while sampling the food from the workshop.
Today, T’Souke-based artist Alexis Hogan draws upon her work in the immersive and relational elements of social practice by using specific foods as thematic, affective prompts for storytelling.
The artist will introduce key ingredients by sharing some of their histories, cultural mythologies and symbolism.
As guests enjoy specially prepared items, the group will tell stories that illustrate the ingredient’s assigned theme.
Themes paired with dishes include Himalayan blackberry coulis and ‘origin stories’; rhubarb custard pots and ‘medicine and poison’; strawberries and ‘travel’; and lavender-infused lemonade and ‘stories we tell to calm ourselves’.
Upcoming sessions include Vancouver-based artists Derya Akay, Vivienne Bessette, and Kurtis Wilson as they explore the table as a practice on Sept. 1; artist and garden farmer Elisa Rathje for apple-pressing on a century-old cider press using apples harvested from her 1895 Salt Spring apple orchard turned food forest on Oct. 6; and exploring the variety and creativity the preservation offers through pickling veggies with Victoria-based artist Samantha Radons on Nov. 3.
The events are free to join, but registration is required at aggv.ca/what-artists-bring-to-the-table. Today’s session takes place 1:30 to 4 p.m. at the Oaklands Community Centre, 2827 Belmont Ave.
For more information, go to aggv.ca.
Men Who Care pass along good fortune
A bunch of guys who want to do good and pass along their good fortune raised more than $5,000 for the Pacific Centre Family Services Association at their monthly meeting last week.
100+ Men Who Care Victoria is a new philanthropist group with a simple formula: Meet for one hour, four times a year. At the meeting, members each contribute $100 to a pot and get one vote as to which charity gets the night’s collection.
Every member gets to nominate a favourite charity each time. Three names are drawn, with members getting the opportunity to stand up and pitch for their nominated charity for three minutes. Everyone then votes — and the winning charity gets the collected funds.
The more members that show up, the bigger the impact they make.
Last Wednesday’s meeting was held on the Strathcona Rooftop Party Deck at Royal Athletic Park during a HarbourCats game.
The venue changes at every meeting: At the first fundraiser, they met at the Vancouver Island Brewery and raised $5,400 for the Extreme Outreach Society. The second was held at the Robert Bateman Centre, when $5,700 was collected for the Bridges for Women Society.
The club is still looking for members to increase their impact.
The next meeting will be held at Audi Victoria on Nov. 6.
For more information, go to 100menvictoria.org.
Show ‘n’ Shine a Tour de Rock fundraiser
View exotic sports cars, hot rods and even a well-worn Ford Pinto at the Lake Cowichan Show ‘n’ Shine, Aug. 31 at Lake Cowichan School.
The gathering of cars is a community fundraiser for the Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock, which benefits the Canadian Cancer Society.
Proceeds from the event will help support children with cancer and their families.
Apart from the cars, there will be a community barbecue.
The event is free to attend and the entry fee for vehicles is by donation (with a minimum $25 suggested). The event runs 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 31, at Lake Cowichan School, 190 South Shore Rd., Lake Cowichan.
The 2019 Tour de Rock, made up of police officers, emergency services personnel, members of the media and special guests, will cycle from one end of Vancouver Island to the other between Sept. 21 to Oct. 4. They will cover more than 1,000 kilometres and visit more than 27 communities along the way.
For more information, go to tourderock.ca/events.
Hospitals foundation marks key milestone
You Are Vital: Pediatrics, the Victoria Hospitals Foundation’s first pediatrics-only campaign in five years, has reached an important milestone: $1 million of the campaign’s $1.8-million goal.
Residents of Vancouver Island has answered the call to addresses the critical need for 40 new monitors in the Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Victoria General Hospital.
“Our supporters are vital, and their generosity is felt everywhere in this community,” said Avery Brohman, acting executive director.
“Over the past two months, we have expressed the critical need for new patient monitors, and our community has responded. On behalf of our dedicated pediatric caregivers and the many children they care for, I would like to express our most heartfelt gratitude. We are hopeful to complete this campaign very soon and have the new monitors installed in our neonatal and pediatric units.”
To date, more than 1,000 individuals have supported the campaign through online donations, direct responses, corporate giving, legacy gifts and special initiatives.
The community has rallied and organized events in support, including the first annual Victoria Wing Fest, KidsRun and events put on by the Professional Firefighters of Greater Victoria.
The CIBC Wood Gundy O’Brien Investment Group came forward to match $40,000 over five days, raising $80,000 to fund two of the patient monitors in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
One in eight children treated at Victoria General Hospital spends time in the care unit every year, which provides intensive care for children from birth to 17 years of age with severe cardiac and respiratory complications, infections, or those involved in tragic accidents.
It is only one of two such units in the province and accepts patients from Vancouver Island and the rest of British Columbia.
Patients in these units need continuous monitoring of vital signs, including heart rate, breathing and blood pressure.
The foundation hopes to raise the remaining $800,000 by the conclusion of the campaign at the end of August — or earlier.
Contributions can be made by donating online, by telephone 250-519-1750 or by mail to Wilson Block, 1952 Bay St., Victoria B.C., V8R 1J8. For more information, go to victoriahf.ca/vitalkids.
Tournament keeps Dunahee’s memory alive
Keep the memory of Michael Dunahee alive and help fund Child Find B.C. by watching 28 union-sponsored slo-pitch softball teams hit home runs at the Michael Dunahee Slo-Pitch Tournament of Hope, Aug. 10 and 11 at Topaz Park.
This is the 28th year of the tournament, a favourite with ball teams from Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.
There is a children’s game at 1 p.m. and everyone is invited to watch skydivers descend with the final game ball and pick the grand prizes at approximately 4 p.m. Sunday.
“This is the biggest fundraiser of the summer for Child Find B.C.,” said Crystal Dunahee, Child Find B.C. president and Michael’s mother. “The money raised through this Tournament of Hope (more than $14,000 last year) goes toward printing costs for Child Find B.C. safety literature and the equipment and materials necessary to support the All About Me ID Kit program.”
All services provided by the organization are provided at no cost to parents and the community.
There is free child care provided for the children of players, with licensed child care professional on site from Canadian Union of Public Employees 2081 (Camosun College).
Child Find B.C. works with law enforcement, community organizations and families to bring ID kits to communities throughout B.C.
The RCMP reports there were more than 47,000 cases of missing children were reported in Canada in 2017, with just under 7,500 cases of missing children reported in B.C.
“Our children are going missing for a variety of reasons in this province and in Canada, and the magnitude of this problem is staggering with so many children reported as missing and it is devastating their families,” said Dunahee.
The slo-pitch tournament runs Aug. 10 and 11 at Topaz Park, Topaz Avenue and Blanshard Street. For more information, go to childfindbc.com.
