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Foundation partnership helps bold ideas of Shuswap youth come alive

Big cheques provide support for projects to inspire youth, save environment
Martha Wickett
Martha Wickett
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As part of RBCs Future Launch Community Challenger, RBC staff present $15,000 to the organizers of RBC-Rotary-School District 83 Shuswap Youth Leadership Day. In back: Jason Bedford, Darlynne McKenna, Sheryl Latosky and Jamie Doebert, all with RBC; Norm Brown, Kari Wilkinson and Carl Cooper with Rotary and School District #83; and RBCs Mark Ripel and Thomas Vicars. In front, in blue shirts from the Shuswap Community Foundation’s YPAC (Youth Philanthropy Advisory Committee), Ava Lamerton and Kate Gamble-Fell, as well as student leaders Abbi Paetsch, Mikayla Wilkinson, Maggie Beckner, Caillie Vicars, Dayton Massey and RBCs Dawn Davidson. (Martha Wickett/Salmon Arm Observer)

It was a happy afternoon in Salmon Arm’s RBC Royal Bank, with lots of giving and receiving going on.

As part of RBC’s Future Launch Community Challenge, which is providing grants to inspiring youth-led projects in 150 small- and medium-sized communities across Canada, two Shuswap projects were on the receiving end of giant cheques.

Via a partnership between the Shuswap Community Foundation and RBC Foundation, a $15,000 grant went to RBC-Rotary-School District 83’s Shuswap Youth Leadership Day as well as $15,000 to the Mirella Project.

RBC Branch Manager Jason Bedford said RBC is always looking for ways to partner with youth through the community challenge, and is pleased to provide the funding to help kick-start projects.

Members of the community foundation’s Youth Philanthropy Advisory Committee, who helped choose the grant recipients, were also on hand for the cheque presentations on Nov. 20.

Read more: Events planned to help Shuswap residents live lighter on Earth

Read more: Shuswap Community Foundation grants support youth projects

Plans are being worked out for Shuswap Youth Leadership Day, which will be a sort of made-in-the-Shuswap Me to We Day. It will be designed to inspire and empower youth aged 12 to 16 to think outside the box, to be passionate about their dreams and to encourage inclusive thinking.

Six main committee members – Maggie Beckner, Dayton Massey, Caillie Vicars, Abbi Paetsch, Carson Meikle and Mikayla Wilkinson – are organizing the day, which will not only be open to school district youth, but also to those who are homeschooled, in private school and other learning situations.

The Mirella Project works to create relationships with Indigenous youth and inspire environmental change within Shuswap communities.

“Our entire goal is to build community through saving the environment,” Mirella Ramsay said in an earlier interview about her vision. “We want to formulate relationships over an issue that requires a lot of attention and really matters.”

The RBC Future Launch Community Challenge is intended to enable youth to apply for funding to support their bold ideas. It is an opportunity for young people to lead, learn new skills, gain experience and build relationships in their local communities.

@SalmonArm
marthawickett@saobserver.net
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As part of RBC’s Future Launch Community Challenger, RBC staff present $15,000 to the Mirella Project. From left: RBC’s Branch Manager Jason Bedford; Shuswap Community Foundation YPAC’s Mikayla Wilkinson; Meredith Rusk, Mirella Ramsay and Dayton Massey with the Mirella Project; and YPAC’s Caillie Vicars. (Photo contributed)
Martha Wickett

About the Author: Martha Wickett

came to Salmon Arm in May of 2004 to work at the Observer. I was looking for a change from the hustle and bustle of the Lower Mainland, where I had spent more than a decade working in community newspapers.
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