Desert Sands grad parade
The 2020 graduating class from Desert Sands Community School will be celebrated in a parade that starts at the Cache Creek Community Hall at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 12. After making its way through Cache Creek, the parade will continue on to Ashcroft, where it will depart from the Ashcroft pool at 7 p.m.
The grads, dressed in their finery, will be lining Quartz Road in Cache Creek starting at 5:30 p.m. and on Elm Street in Ashcroft in front of the pool starting at 6:30 p.m. Feel free to drive by and salute them from your vehicle before the parades start.
David Stoddart grad parade
Celebrate this year’s grads at David Stoddart School in Clinton by coming out and cheering during the grad parade taking place on Saturday, June 13 starting at 2 p.m. The parade will start at the north end of town and then make its way back through the Village, ending at the school. For a route map, visit the CLINTON BC - Events, Activities and Items For Sale Facebook page.
Honour our caregivers and seniors
On Sunday, June 14 at 1 p.m., come out to the Ashcroft Hospital to give thanks to our caregivers and staff, and let the residents of Jackson House know we care about them.
Bring signs and noisemakers, and wave and honk your horns as you drive around the upper hospital parking lot. Just keep your distance and allow relatives to get closer to the building so they can see their family members, who will be watching through the window. and from the garden.
Anonymous Art Show
Put your artistic skills to use and help out the Ashcroft HUB! The Anonymous Art Show is looking for artists willing to create an 8” by 8” piece of art and donate it for use in a fundraiser for the HUB. The registration fee is $5, which includes one 8” by 8” canvas, and each artist can contribute up to four pieces.
You can also help out by taking part in the silent auction, which will feature the donated artworks. All proceeds go to support the HUB, which has now reopened. To register, go to https://bit.ly/3eUDGCE. For more information, call (250) 453-9177 or email ashcrofthub@gmail.com.
Free work skills development
Whether you want to change careers, open a home-based business, or sharpen your creative skills, be sure to check out Lynda.com (also known as LinkedIn Learning). It’s an online learning platform with courses in business, software, technology, creative skills, and more, and access is free with your Thompson-Nicola Regional Library (TNRL) card.
You can choose from more than 6,000 expert-lead webinars or complete learning paths, from project management and negotiations to leadership skills and IT Security, or digital marketing and communications, just to name a few. These professional development tutorials can help you learn spreadsheets, word processing, photography, and more.
“It’s a great resource for business owners, students, and just about anybody with a curious mind,” says Jenny Abramzik, the TNRL’s Special Projects and E-Library Coordinator.
To access Lynda.com, all you need is a library card and an Internet connection. To get started, or to get a library card (it’s free!) online if you don’t already have one, go to www.tnrl.ca.
Support for small businesses
Community Futures is pleased to announce that the portal for the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund (RRRF) is now active. The fund is designed to help businesses and organizations, including in the tourism sector, that are key to local economies, but which might not be able to access other existing programs.
Some $304 million is available through the RRRF to help small businesses in Western Canada, with the funding administered by Western Economic Diversification through the Community Futures network. For more information or to apply, visit the Community Futures Sun Country website at https://www.cfsun.ca/covid_19/.
Walk to end ALS
The lWalk to End ALS is a fun, family-friendly way to celebrate hope for a future without ALS, honour those we have loved and lost, and show support for the 3,000 Canadians and their families living with the disease.
In 2020, Walks across the country will be taking place virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Join in the Virtual Walk to End ALS on Saturday, June 20: the day before Global ALS Awareness Day. On the day of the Virtual Walk, choose a time that works for you, and take a walk in your neighborhood.
Your fundraising efforts and generous donations support the best ALS research in the country (40 per cent of proceeds) and enable ALS Societies to provide community-based support (60 per cent of proceeds) to people and families living with the disease.
This year, funds raised for ALS research will be matched dollar for dollar by Brain Canada, up to $1 million. The Canada Brain Research Fund is an innovative partnership between the Government of Canada (through Health Canada) and Brain Canada, designed to encourage Canadians to increase their support of brain research, and maximize the impact and efficiency of those investments.
For information about registration and donations, visit www.walktoendals.ca/british-columbia, email support@alsbc.ca, or call 1-800-708-3228, ext. 229.
First Nations Virtual Doctor
The First Nations Health Authority’s (FNHA) accelerated launch of the First Nations Virtual Doctor of the Day program ensures primary health care remains accessible during the COVID-19 pandemic to all First Nations people living in British Columbia.
The program—created in partnership with the Rural Coordination Centre of BC—provides virtual appointments with doctors who are trained in the principles of cultural safety and humility, and are familiar with the unique aspects of rural and remote community health care.
FNHA’s ongoing priority is to remove physical and historical barriers to culturally-safe, appropriate primary care. Now, a simple phone call and one-click process connects clients with the First Nations Virtual Doctor of the Day through video conference or telephone appointment.
First Nations clients in B.C. who do not have a doctor of their own, or have lost access due to COVID-19, can call 1-855-344-3800 to book an appointment or email virtualdoctor@rccbc.ca. Appointments are facilitated by a team of trained Medical Office Assistants who will work with the client’s schedule.
“The pandemic led to the closure of many community-based health centres and doctors’ offices across the province,“ says Richard Jock, FNHA Interim CEO. “We fast-tracked a service that provides respectful, regionally-based virtual care for First Nations people so they can receive the care they need closer to home.”
The service is free to all First Nations people living in B.C. and their families, even if those family members are non-status. The service is currently staffed by 31 doctors, one-third of whom are of Indigenous ancestry. The program uses Zoom for Healthcare, which has added privacy for medical appointments: video and audio appointments are not recorded or saved. Zoom for Healthcare is approved for use by the BC Ministry of Health and the Provincial Health Services Authority. Learn how the program works at www.fnha.ca/virtualdoctor.
Rural health care podcasts
The Centre for Rural Health Research (CRHR) has introduced the CRHR Podcast channel, which will publish recorded audio programs exploring important health issues from across British Columbia. The channel focuses on sharing rural and remote patient and community voices, discussing noteworthy and impactful findings from the CRHR’s continuous work on rural health issues with communities across B.C., and engaging rural communities, academics, and decision makers to elevate the discourse on rural health issues in the province.
As the Centre for Rural Health Research explores how to improve access to health care in rural and remote places across B.C., it is exposed to countless inspirational stories of community resilience, ingenuity, and strength. “Innovation from the Edges” presents some of these stories from communities across British Columbia as told by the people living in them.
The first episode, which is available now, is “Quadra Island Caremongering”, and features an interview with Kristine Perron, the organizer of the Quadra Island Caremongering group, about how one small island community has banded together to care for each other during the COVID-19 pandemic.
You can find more information, including how to access the podcasts, at https://crhr.med.ubc.ca/crhr-podcast/.
Protect your valuables
The RCMP remind everyone to protect property in your automobile from theft by keeping items out of sight and locking doors.
During the summer months, there will be the arrival of seasonal visitors to B.C. communities and places such as parks and recreational sites. The influx of travellers also presents greater opportunity for thieves to prey on vehicles and their contents.
Prevention of theft requires the police and public working together. “Theft of property from vehicles is a crime of opportunity that can be significantly reduced by vehicle owners practicing some crime prevention habits,” says Corporal Mike Rail, spokesperson for the Upper Fraser Valley Regional Detachment.
Prevention tips include locking the doors when you leave your vehicle; ensuring that all valuables in your parked vehicle are stored out of sight; and not leaving valuables in your vehicle overnight.
Have your say on provincial priorities
All British Columbians are encouraged to share their ideas and priorities for the future of the province as people, communities, and businesses begin to rebuild after COVID-19.
For the first time, British Columbians will have the opportunity to share their priorities for the future of B.C. entirely online. Consultations will occur virtually through video and teleconference from June 8-12, 15-19, and 22-24, 2020, with hearings and presenters grouped into small panels based on various themes.
British Columbia’s Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services also invites people to participate in this year’s budget consultation by completing the survey online or making a written, audio, or video submission. This year’s online approach maintains government’s commitment to transparency and accountability while protecting the health and well-being of British Columbians.
The survey is now open, with the deadline to receive all submissions set for June 26, 2020 at 5 p.m. (Pacific time). Public input will be included in the committee’s report to the legislative assembly, expected to be released in August 2020.
Get started by reading the 2021 Budget consultation paper at www.gov.bc.ca/budgetconsultations. Submit ideas for Budget 2021 before June 26, 2020, at https://bit.ly/2Uluy29. For information on how to participate in the consultation process, visit https://bcleg.ca/FGSbudget or contact the Parliamentary Committees Office at (250) 356-2933 or 1-877-428-8337 (toll-free in B.C.).
editorial@accjournal.ca
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