Category Archives: Community

Area C matters at the March 29 SRD Board Meeting

A number of Area C Initiatives were passed at the Wednesday March 29, 2023, Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Board Meeting. 

The only audio clip I am using in this broadcast comes from a segment dealing with Grants in Aid. Chair Mark Baker is speaking throughout most of it. He brings a levity to the board that I do not remember witnessing in four years of observing SRD meetings. You can hear an example in the podcast. There is usually some laughter, even if only for a few moments, in most meetings. As none of the directors had anything they wished to say, this segment is almost like a drum roll: “Discussion: All in favour? Opposed? Seeing none the motion is carried.” 

Continue reading Area C matters at the March 29 SRD Board Meeting

Empowering the Cortes Island community through Microgrants

The 2023 MicroGrants 4 Neighbours program is focusing on projects that promote youth empowerment, but also encourages any other projects to apply. 

Successful applicants will receive grants of between $50 to $500 and do not have to return any unused funds. 

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Much love for Ukraine

By Mark Brett, Penticton Herald, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A standing ovation was the culmination to a “life-changing” visit to the South Okanagan for a group of young Calgary dancers.

But the real beneficiaries of the shows at the Frank Venables Theatre in Oliver and the Cleland Theatre are some of the millions of Ukrainians now struggling for survival.

Continue reading Much love for Ukraine

Leaving home a matter of life and death

By Mark Brett, Penticton Herald, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Editor’s note: This is the fourth installment in a five-part series about local efforts to help Ukrainian refugees. Today we profile the work of a different organization, Ukrainian Canadian Volunteers Association, which is also helping settle newcomers in the South Okanagan and those who remained behind. People indiscriminately gunned down on city streets, the almost-constant piercing sound of the air raid sirens and families cowering in shelters praying for the bombing to end. That’s everyday life for many people in Ukraine since a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War in February 2022. Liudmyla Shkyn, 60, and her mother Hanna Opanasko, 81, who now live in Penticton, were two of the lucky ones, barely managing to escape the bloodshed.

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‘I couldn’t just sit back and watch’

By Mark Brett, Penticton Herald, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

When she began helping Ukrainians escape their war-torn country, Jennifer Martison realized getting people out was only half the battle.

“The Ukrainians face huge challenges when they arrive here (in Canada), the government bureaucracy and requisite paperwork is daunting,” said Martison, who started the Ukraine Nightingale Project (UNP) last fall to help refugees of the war.

Continue reading ‘I couldn’t just sit back and watch’