Christmas hamper applications
Staff are available each work day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the South Cariboo Elizabeth Fry Society office (601 Bancroft Street, Ashcroft) to take applications for Christmas hampers for those in need. This includes all Ashcroft residents, as well as anyone we have missed in our other communities.
On Wednesday (Food Bank day), the hours to apply will be from noon until 2:30 p.m. The deadline for applications is Wednesday, Dec. 5, and the hampers will be delivered on Dec. 15.
Hockey fundraiser
The Ashcroft Peewee hockey team is holding another painting fundraiser, on Saturday, Dec. 1 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Ashcroft Legion.
Participants will paint a “Canadian Sunset”, and the $50 per person fee includes instruction, all materials, a free drink, and a donation to the Ashcroft Peewee hockey team.
The event is 19+, and although aprons are provided, please wear appropriate clothing just in case.
To purchase a ticket, go to www.kamloopsartparty.com/ashcroft.
Christmas in a Basket
In partnership with Interior Savings Local Give, the Ashcroft HUB will be awarding a deserving family “Christmas in a Basket”: everything they meed for a Christmas dinner, and more.
To nominate a family, send an email to the HUB (ashcrofthub@gmail.com) or come into the HUB office in person, to say why you think your nominee should receive the basket. Submissions are due by Dec. 14. For privacy reasons, submissions will not be accepted via social media.
Cache Creek seniors drop-in
Those aged 55 and older can now share some social time at a seniors’ drop-in at the Cache Creek Community Centre (lower level, to the right of the InfoCentre entrance) every Sunday afternoon from 1 to 4 p.m. Come and have a cup of coffee, play cards, play games (bring your own if you want to!), and come once in a while or every week: it’s free!
The Equality Project
The Equality Project is hoping to be able to open three days a week, and is looking for people who are able to volunteer their time on Wednesdays. At least four committed volunteers are needed in the kitchen at the Project’s clubhouse on Stage Road in Cache Creek, and anyone willing and able should contact the Project at info@theequalityproject.ca or (250) 457-6485.
The Project’s Essentials room is looking for candles, as they have people living without electricity who are in need. Also needed are cat food, men’s small and medium winter coats, and mitts, gloves, and warm socks for all ages. If you can help, The Equality Project has people in need.
Ashcroft gets a starring role
In late September, Ashcroft played host to a film crew shooting an ad for Kohl’s department store. The ad was Christmas-themed, which meant that for a few days part of downtown Ashcroft took on a festive flavour, as crews decked the streets and buildings of parts of 4th Street, Brink, and Railway with Christmas decorations and “snow”. Shots were also filmed on a ranch in the area, and computer generated images (CGI) were added later to radically alter the background scenery.
Merritt, Lytton, Ashcroft, and Oliver were considered for this commercial. The director, production designer, director of photography, and advertising executives scouted Merritt and Ashcroft, and chose Ashcroft.
Jamie Payton of Monte Creek was hired as horse wrangler, and the horses came from Kamloops. Gareth Smart of Cache Creek and Mary Putnam of Kamloops scouted for the project.
The Journal spoke with a crew member during the shoot, and he had high praise for the area and the hospitality of Ashcroft residents and businesses. The ad can be viewed at http://bit.ly/2PzAm7N; see how many Ashcroft locations you can spot.
Chapters-Indigo FUNdraiser
The Violence Against Women Intervention & Support Services Department of the YMCA-YWCA Kamloops presents the Chapters-Indigo FUNdraiser. Do some early Christmas shopping and support a local charity at the same time!
On Tuesday, Nov. 27, shop at Chapters in Kamloops between 6 and 8:30 p.m., and the YMCA-YWCA will earn 15 per cent of all purchases (some restrictions apply) to go towards their Strong Kids Campaign. Help send kids to Power of Being a Girl, Strength In Being a Boy, and PEACE’s Camp Starfish.
Purchase a gift card before you shop (anytime, not just on Nov. 27), and Chapters will donate 15 per cent of the gift card to the YMCA-YWCA’s campaign as well.
Electoral reform response
The interim ballot package return report for the 2018 Referendum on Electoral Reform has been updated to include an estimate of the total number of referendum ballot packages returned to Elections BC.
As of Nov. 19, approximately 682,300 ballot packages had been returned, representing packages from 21 per cent of registered voters. This does not include ballot packages that have been received by Canada Post and not yet transferred to Elections BC, but does include packages on hand at Elections BC’s facilities waiting to be processed, as well as packages undergoing initial processing prior to screening.
As of Nov. 19, 15.5 per cent of the ballots for Fraser-Nicola had been received, putting it in the top 10 ridings in terms of response rate. Surrey-Green Timbers had the lowest rate of response, with only 3.4 per cent of ballots returned.
The report is available at http://bit.ly/2Pv21qB, and is updated daily (Monday to Friday).
Trades funding for TRU
New trades training equipment is coming to Thompson Rivers University, to better prepare students for the workplace when they leave the classroom. The funding announcement of $160,000 for trades and technology equipment came during Apprenticeship Recognition Week in British Columbia (Nov. 4 to 10).
“Investing in equipment is an investment in our students and our communities,” says Melanie Mark, Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training. “We’re working together to put 21st-century equipment in classrooms and shops to ensure trades students in the Kamloops area and throughout the province are on the pathway to success and gaining the skills industry needs.”
The funding will be used to buy new, and replace aging, trades and technology equipment. Examples of trades training equipment purchased by various post-secondary institutions last year include a used hybrid car for automotive programs, various types of saws for construction trades programs, and equipment for culinary programs.
Technology equipment purchased last year included iPads, 3D printers, and new servers, as well as wind and solar energy training equipment.
The $160,000 for TRU is part of an investment of $3 million in 2018-19 at 19 public post-secondary institutions in new trades and tech training equipment. The funding is allocated for this fiscal year, with the new equipment expected to be in place by April 2019.
“X” gender identity now recognized on government ID
British Columbians who do not identify as male or female will have the choice to display an X as a third option in the gender field of their B.C.-issued driver’s licence, identity card, birth certificate, and BC Services Card.
“We are taking action to move British Columbia into the 21st century when it comes to gender identity,” says Jinny Sims, Minister of Citizens’ Services. “This is a step in the right direction to ensure that identity documents better reflect identity. It is the right thing to do.”
The ministries of Health, Citizens’ Services, and Attorney General have worked together to include an X designation option on government-issued identification documents. This option came into effect on Nov. 1, 2018.
“As a trans individual, I know from personal experience that having identification documents that reflect who I am positively affects my access to education, employment, housing, health care, and much more,” says Gwen Haworth, trans community member and Trans Care BC project manager. “I’m grateful that the Province is taking this action and confident that it will benefit many British Columbians and their families.”
“As a physician who works with trans and gender-diverse people, I have observed the multiple ways that non-binary people are invisiblized within our society, with negative impacts on their health and well-being,” says Dr. Marria Townsend, medical director, Trans Care BC.
“This is a positive step towards recognizing and affirming the humanity of those British Columbians who don’t identify as male or female.”
Trans Care BC defines non-binary as an umbrella term referring to diverse people whose gender identity is neither female nor male, and defines transgender as an umbrella term that describes a wide range of people whose gender identity differs from their assigned sex at birth.
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