HONOURING THOSE WHO GO ABOVE AND BEYOND EVERY DAY

Kamloops This Week is pleased to present the winners of the 2023 Community Leader Awards. These awards recognize people who demonstrate leadership behind the scenes, whose effect is felt as much as it is seen. Here are the categories in which we are recognizing selfless Kamloopsians this year.

COACH: Makes a positive contribution to their sport. Is exemplary in developing skills and confidence in participants. A role model who inspires and encourages high athletic achievement.

COMMUNITY BUILDER: Someone who has taken the initiative to engage a variety of local residents in an innovative or new community project or event. The initiative may assist different groups to work together, address a gap in community participation or result in a more inclusive, engaged community.

VOLUNTEER: This individual makes a positive contribution to the community by volunteering their time to a variety of causes. They are dedicated to making a difference in several initiatives.

YOUTH VOLUNTEER: A youth who is 19 or under who makes a positive contribution to the community through volunteering. Someone who has committed to making a difference in an organization or individual.

MENTOR: Makes a positive contribution by being a true leader. An influential counsellor, teacher or educator who provides support or sponsorship. Demonstrates a high level of ethics and professional standards, is an inspirational motivator, excellent communicator, good listener and a reliable resource to the community.

COURAGE: This person has risen above adversity or formidable challenges to become a success. As a result, they have had a positive effect on the people around them.

FRESH IMPACT: This person has been in Kamloops less than three years, but is already making an impact in the community in a leadership position in business, volunteer work or other community involvement.

ENVIRONMENTAL LEADER:

Everyone is talking about the carbon footprint, but this award celebrates a person who is walking their talk, whether it be riding their bike to work yearround, reusing and reducing or taking great steps in setting an example for others to follow.

INDIGENOUS LEADER: This person is making a positive impact on Indigenous business and culture in Kamloops and area, helping spread awareness and growing relationships within Kamloops with Indigenous businesses and organizations.

PRESENTED BY

ELITE UNDER-40: This person is under the age of 40 and is recognized for going above and beyond in the community in a variety of fields and endeavours.

As a community newspaper, we’re all about telling stories and that’s one of the criteria we kept in mind when selecting our winners — inspiring people with inspiring stories. It’s a pleasure and a privilege to be able to tell these stories in these pages and we’re confident you’ll find them as inspiring as we did. When you’re finished, we think you’ll feel even better about the community you call home.

In our business, great ideas like this don’t come to life without the support of community-minded advertisers. We’re so pleased that local businesses stepped forward to help KTW make this initiative a success.

Our sincere thanks go out to the sponsors of our award categories:

• Coach Award: No Limits Fitness

• Community Leader Award: Kamloops Mazda

• Volunteer Award: Supplement King

• Youth Volunteer Award: Brown’s Locksmith

• Mentor Award: Chris Chan Royal LePage Realty

• Courage Award: Thrive Clinical Counselling and Consulting

• Fresh Impact Award: Community Futures

• Environmental Leader Award: Sunny Green Environmental

• Elite Under-40 Award: Petland

• Indigenous Leader Award: Kruger Kamloops

Please consider supporting their businesses as they support our awards and our community at large.

In the next few pages, we hope you enjoy reading about these inspiring members of our community.

Aly Bradford’s reward for volunteerism was watching four athletes compete at the International Cheer Union World Championships in April in Orlando.

“To watch all of their hard work on the stage and watch them succeed at such a high calibre was worth more than any award and worth all of the late nights we were in the gym,” said Bradford, co-owner of Freeze Athletics in Kamloops. “Oftentimes, especially within cheerleading in Kamloops, our athletes don’t get the same opportunities that they do down on the Lower Mainland.”

Bradford received the Coach Award for the role she played in helping Cian Watters, Eva Byczek, Madison Brien and Sean Mitchell crack the Canadian team that competed at the world championships.

The quartet was named to a 28-person team that was composed mainly of athletes from the Coast, in addition to the Kamloopsians, and the squad trained sporadically in the Lower Mainland.

Bradford jumped in to make sure the athletes had space and supervision at Freeze in Kamloops to practise and chase spots on the final roster, important training time to augment the sanctioned team sessions.

“Only 24 got to compete at world championships,” Bradford said, noting the training sessions at Freeze began last summer. “We were just trying to do what we could to make sure they could be successful and do the best they could do. It’s hard when you’re that far away from everyone else on the team.”

Bradford had no idea she was nominated for the award.

“It’s always nice to be recognized, as well,” she said. “It’s really nice to see there are things in Kamloops where people are being recognized for their achievements. Experiences like that give it a small-town, community feel.”

Aprolific volunteer, Niki Remesz said she is someone who likes to work behind the scenes. And there’s plenty of work that she has done.

Remesz’s volunteering experience includes arts and sports organizations, such as Western Canada Theatre and the BC Games Society, and community groups like the Chris Rose Therapy Centre for Autism.

More recently, Remesz has been helping out with One Hundred Women Who Care. The group meets four times each year, with a nominated charity chosen randomly and each attending member contributing $100 to the donation pool.

Along with her local impact, Remesz is also working on the provincial stage. Last month, she was named chair of the BC Games Society board and is looking forward to upcoming events, including the 2024 BC Winter Games in Lhtako territory/Quesnel and the 2024 BC Summer Games in Maple Ridge.

Remesz said she wants to work with the province and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport to ensure continued development of youth sports.

“Youth sports means healthy minds, healthy bodies and healthy communities,” she said.

Remesz said working at the provincial level will allow her to bring everything she learns back to Kamloops.

Asked what advice she has for prospective volunteers in Kamloops, Remesz suggested finding an organization that speaks to you, whether it’s a love of music driving you to the Kamloops Symphony, an interest in theatre leading you to Western Canada Theatre or a connection with animals leading you to organizations like the BC SPCA or Angel’s Animal Rescue. by

“Mostly, I think volunteering is a great way to feel good — feel good contributing, doing something outside of your four walls and learning something you wouldn’t otherwise,” she said.

Remesz said the reward for building a community continues as she runs into fellow past volunteers at future events.

“Every single one of them has a smile on their face and they’re so happy to greet you,” she said.

Someone who has taken the initiative to engage a variety of local residents in an innovative or new community project or event. The initiative may assist different groups to work together, address a gap in community participation, or result in a more inclusive, engaged community.

This individual makes a positive contribution to the community by volunteering their time to a variety of causes. They are dedicated to making a difference in several initiatives.

Where there’s wood, Terry Shupe does good.

The retired judge is well known in Kamloops and beyond for his talent in creating handmade wooden cars and other toys, which he has donated to myriad local and international causes.

Shupe not only creates the toys for kids, he often helps the young ones in crafting the, “I have a variety of models to choose from, so the kids who attend get to pick whichever [model] they want to work on,” Shupe told KTW last fall as he prepared to contribute to a Repair Café event in the city. “Then they’ll attach the wheels and take home their car.” a tea

At such events, Shupe provides each participant with a handcrafted wooden car, a cup of glue, a damp rag, dowelling and a toothpick. He explains the process of building toy cars.

“I’ve done woodworking for 20-plus years and, in the past, I donated to Christmas Amalgamated and in the past, I had this same exercise at Canada Day,” Shupe said. Shupe has also donated wooden cars to families in need, both locally and abroad.

A most recent volunteer effort was at a tea party organized by Kamloops Immigrant Services for recent arrivals from Ukraine and elsewhere. Shupe also completed some training workshops with Refugees and Friends Together, a volunteer-run refugee resettlement group in Kamloops.

In addition, Shupe has travelled to various parts of the world, helping with rebuilding after disasters — and bringing wooden toys for kids. And, in 2022, he travelled to Bosnia to help train judges as democracy was being formed in that country.

Immigrant Ukraine some refugee various rebuilding toys Bosnia being

At just 18 years of age, Sourish Rajesh

Kanna has already become a prolific volunteer.

His volunteer experience includes work at Royal Inland Hospital, the Big Little Science Centre, the Kamloops Brain Injury Association and even a temple in India, where he helped serve meals and cared for animals, including taking on the duty of bathing an elephant.

With the goal of becoming a medical doctor, Kanna decided to volunteer at RIH.

“I just thought it’d be a great way to get exposure in the medical field because I’m planning to pursue medicine at UBC,” he said.

Kanna has been volunteering at the hospital since December 2022. He calls it a rewarding experience.

“I just like the vibe of volunteering. It gives this positive atmosphere, like to help others, and it’s just a nice feeling you’re getting back from helping your community and helping out others,” he said.

Christy Denton, one of several people who nominated Kanna for the award, praised the teen’s warm and compassionate demeanour, adding he “consistently goes above and beyond” his duties, always seeking ways to assist patients and staff alike.

His work at the Big Little Science Centre has been mostly with school-aged kids, with whom Kanna said he loves to be around and help out.

His first volunteer experience, however, was in India, at a temple he and his family visit annually in Chennai, in India’s southernmost state of Tamil Nadu.

There, he cared for animals, including the temple elephant, as well as goats and cows.

Following his high school graduation this year, Kanna plans to pursue a bachelor of science degree at Thompson Rivers University before heading to the University of British Columbia for medical school.

When he is not volunteering or tutoring others, Kanna enjoys cycling, hiking and music, including playing the flute and piccolo.

When asked what advice he would offer to prospective volunteers, Kanna recommends seeking a number of different opportunities, especially those relevant to your interests.

“Make sure where you’re volunteering is something that you are going to enjoy and don’t just focus on one opportunity,” he said.

Haywood-Farmer

Makes a positive contribution by being a true leader. An influential counselor, teacher or educator that provides support or sponsorship. Demonstrates a high level of ethics and professional standards, is an inspirational motivator, excellent communicator, good listener and a reliable resource to the community.

Christa Haywood-Farmer said she was “super” surprised to learn she had won the 2023 KTW Community Leader Awards Mentor Award and that people consider her someone they can learn from.

Haywood-Farmer’s job as manager of community and vocational Integration with the Canadian Mental Health Association is all about mentorship, supporting many different staff members in a coaching role. That extends to her clients, who have mental-health issues, as Haywood-Farmer demonstrates to them behaviours, social skills and boundaries.

“I’m honoured that people respect the work that I do and they value what I do and they take some of the pieces I do and make it their own to help support clients,” HaywoodFarmer said.

Originally from Alberta, Haywood-Farmer has called Kamloops home for 26 years and has worked in her field for more than 20 years. She has worked many roles with the CMHA, involving training and teaching.

Haywood-Farmer has taught mental health first -aid in Kamloops since 2009, assisted in the development and implementation of psychosocial rehabilitation programming, creates new learning opportunities for the community and holds a seat on the community advisory board at the Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre.

“I taught all sorts of people — meaning service providers, families, volunteers, RCMP, paramedics, firefighters — on how to respond to individuals who have mental illness,” Haywood-Farmer said. Within the CMHA, she started a program targeting mental-health needs within the workplace, teaching how to support people with those needs.

“I have taught and presented to different groups in the community,” Haywood-Farmer said, noting talks with the BC Lottery