Still more to celebrate in Kamloops this month!
The theme of this week’s Good News is resilience and recovery.
Lisa Imeson shares good news about the 4th Annual Nicholas’ Run/Walk for Youth Mental Health at 9am Nov 7th at Pioneer Park – “Nicholas was a young man I got to know while working at a local High School. Nicholas took his own life November 2022. Nicholas’ mother and I presented the 1st Annual Run the following year. Our main goal was to reduce the stigma surrounding youth mental health. We have added the goal of raising funds to support initiatives supporting the youth of our community”. Huge appreciation for Lisa and Rie Takahashi (Nicholas’ mother) for honouring Nicholas in this wonderful way. To register for or donate to the run, visit https://www.bcicf.ca/giving/impact/events/
The Out of the Ashes (OOTA) bursary was initiated in 2007 as a prevention initiative by Leann Kopytko, a youth counsellor with Day One Society and her late husband Ron Kopytko who shared her passion for helping youth. The vision of the OOTA bursary is to provide educational support to those with a minimum of one year recovery time, who are living in Kamloops
Huge congratulations to the 2026 OOTA Bursary recipients!!
1. Nick Kostachuk $2500.00
Recovery Date: Nov 29, 2023
Nick is pursuing a Bachelor of Social Work at Thompson Rivers University
2. Michael Moore $2500.00
Recovery Date: January 05, 2023 –
Michael is enrolled in First year of the Human Service Worker Program at Thompson Rivers University.
3. Jessica Calder $2500.00
Recovery Date: Dec 23, 2021 –
Jessica is currently enrolled in Sprott Shaw Community College to become a Licensed Practical Nurse.
4. Tre Rhiness $2500.00
Dec 01, 2020 – Tre had already completed his first year at TRU in the Human Service Worker Diploma Certification program.
5. Rudy Braun $1500.00 (Recovery Date: Feb 11, 2024 – Age Category 30 and above
Rudy is a two-time award recipient (2025 and 2026) and is completing his 4th year Millwright and then his Red Seal Certification.
6. Candis Garant $1500.00
Recovery Date: October 9, 2020 Age Category 30 and above
Candis has completed her Human Service Worker Diploma and is pursuing her Social Work Degree. Candis is a two-time bursary award winner in 2025 and 2026. She is on the Deans List at Thompson Rivers University
7. “Elijah” THE FIRST TO RECEIVE THE $5000.00 Dr Ho Young Chung Award
Recovery Date: Dec 04, 2021
Our winning recipient for this very special award is our returning recipient from 2025, Elijah. Elijah is in his final year at the University of Northern BC (Prince George), completing his Masters of Counselling Degree.
Jennifer Harbaruk and Amber Horne Piva share good news about TRU hockey for men AND women – “The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack and Logan Lake Miners hockey program have announced an affiliation that will see the Logan Lake-based program join the WolfPack as a self-funded competitive club program.
Featuring both a men’s and women’s team for the first time this upcoming 2026-27 season, the WolfPack hockey club teams will provide students enrolled at TRU with the opportunity to compete at the post-secondary level.
With the growth and increasing profile of women’s hockey, the addition of a women’s program to this level of hockey is an exciting boost for TRU!
Welcome to the DEN WOLFPACK!
Pyara Lotay, the founder of the annual Know your Neighbour Walk invites people to come down to the Riverside Park at 1045am on Oct 17th – “Every year, neighbours from every corner of Kamloops gather to walk side by side — no matter where we started, what we believe, or what language we grew up speaking. All are welcome. No registration needed — just show up and say hello.”
Kamloops is an amazing community with a long-standing culture of kindness and looking out for one another. We need to talk about this more, give it more attention, and keep strengthening our collective goodness. We, at the Kamloops Chronicle, feel it’s so important to share good news regularly and that’s what this space is about. We encourage you to submit your good news by calling 250 851-9630, emailing us at [email protected] or sending us mail to PO Box 814, Station Main, Kamloops BC, V2C 5M8.