News

Who knew your empty bottles and cans could make such a BIG difference?! 🥹🫶

A YANA THANK YOU to everyone who has been donating their bottle and can refunds to YANA through the Return-It Express system!

Every bottle, every can, and every little refund adds up to something truly special for local families who need to travel for medical care. 💕

We absolutely LOVE seeing our community find creative, everyday ways to give back! What might seem like a small gesture makes a BIG impact when we all come together.

So, to everyone who has turned their empties into a little extra LOVE for YANA, THANK YOU! Your kindness means the world to us! 🩵💛🧡💚

Small returns. BIG Impact. ♻️

A HUGE THANK YOU to the incredible team at Liberty Kitchen for choosing YANA as the recipient of the tips from their Thirsty Rehearsals this past summer, raising an INCREDIBLE $8,425 FOR YANA! 🤯

Before officially opening their doors, the Liberty Kitchen team welcomed employees’ friends and families, along with our YANA crew, to experience Liberty Kitchen Crown Isle! Over two days of delicious food, fantastic drinks, and wonderful hospitality, EVERY SINGLE TIP received was generously donated to YANA! 🥹🫶

Our YANA team absolutely LOVED being part of the excitement, and we couldn’t be more grateful to have been included in such a special beginning!

What an AMAZING way to kick off your journey in the Comox Valley! Your generosity and community spirit have absolutely blown us away. Thank you for turning your exciting new beginning into BIG LOVE for local families! 🩵💛🧡💚

🎶 Beautiful music with a beautiful purpose! 💛

We’re delighted to introduce Bel Curve, a new local musical group featuring singers Carol Anne Parkinson, Paulina Harskkamp and Orlando Wiebe, accompanied by pianist Wendy Dyck.

Bel Curve is bringing intimate home concerts to the Comox Valley, and in September, they performed at the home of Mary Hodkins, a YANA supporter, where guests were invited to attend by donation to YANA. We are so grateful to Bel Curve, Mary, and everyone who attended for turning an evening of beautiful music into support for YANA families. 

And we love the story behind their name! The bell curve is the curve of a grand piano where a singer stands, but the group dropped one “L” as a nod to bel canto, Italian for “beautiful singing.” 🎹🎶

Bel Curve is just getting started, and we’re so excited to see where their music takes them and be a part of their journey!

One YANA family recently found themselves unexpectedly needing to leave the Comox Valley for medical care for their child and unsure of what the days ahead might bring. Before they left, they received YANA emergency funding right at the hospital, offering some immediate support during an uncertain and stressful time.

Thankfully, they were able to return home much sooner than expected and were incredibly grateful that the situation wasn’t as serious as they had feared. 

Knowing YANA’s support was there if they needed it, this family chose to pay their emergency funding forward so it can help the next local family who unexpectedly finds themselves travelling for medical care. 🥹

Families supporting families. Kindness coming full circle. This is the heart of YANA. 🩵💛🧡💚

We are so happy to see this family return home and so so so grateful they chose to pay that support forward for future YANA Families!!!!

Our hearts are VERY full with this one! 🥹🩵💛🧡💚

For Meadow’s 3rd birthday, her family decided to celebrate in an incredibly special way by asking for donations to YANA in lieu of birthday gifts! 🎂🎈

And the kindness didn’t stop there! Meadow’s amazing parents, Nick and Mandy, MATCHED the donations, making their family’s already thoughtful gift to YANA even more impactful. 🥰

This wonderful family holds an extra-special place in our YANA hearts because they are also proud YANA volunteers! Whether they’re giving their time, lending a hand, or finding beautiful ways like this to support YANA families, they truly embody what community is all about. 🫶

Meadow, you may only be THREE, but you are already making a BIG difference in your community!!!!

Thank you to Miracle Beach Elementary for supporting YANA with their Primary Gym Sale and showing the community how much impact they can make when you come together. We absolutely LOVE seeing young people getting involved in giving back to their community. It’s such a beautiful reminder that you are never too young to make a difference; kindness has no age limit!!!!

A BIG YANA THANK YOU TO QUANTUM DENTAL GROUP! 🩵💛🧡💚

We are BEYOND grateful for the ongoing generosity of Dr. Chris Becir and the incredible team at Quantum Dental Group, and for the many ways they continue to show up for YANA and the families we support.

Their generous support recently helped YANA purchase something pretty exciting… drumroll please!!! 🥁🥁🥁

🎉 OUR VERY OWN 20×20 EVENT TENT!!! 🎉

It might seem like “just a tent,” but for us, having resources like this makes a BIG difference. It gives us more flexibility at community events and fundraisers, reduces the need for ongoing rentals, and allows us to make choices that stretch our fundraising dollars further, ultimately helping us put more time, energy, and resources where they matter most: supporting local families!!! 

We can’t wait to put this beauty to work again and again and again!!!

We are sending a MASSIVE amount of YANA love to Trail Bicycles! 🩵💛🧡💚

The team at Trail have become such incredible supporters of the YANA Ride, and this year their generosity helped us offer a seriously AMAZING Grand Prize… a $2,000 BIKE SHOPPING SPREE! 🤯🚲🎉

Trail was one of two local bike shops that stepped up to help make this prize possible, in cooperation with our Lead Sponsor, Quantum Dental. When our Grand Prize winner, Hudson, got to make his choice, Trail was his quick pick for some new wheels and gear! 🙌

We are SO grateful to have a local business like Trail Bicycles standing behind the YANA Ride. Their support helps us create those BIG, exciting moments for our riders while ultimately making even bigger support for our families possible.

A HUGE thank you to the Comox Valley Curling Centre for choosing YANA as the charity for last seasons Pros vs Joes Bonspiel and for including us in the Battle of the Breweries! 🩵💛🧡💚 What an incredible community you’ve built. The energy, the generosity, and the fun were unmatched.

And a BIG shoutout to Hoyne Brewing Co. for adding even more generosity to the mix by donating $1 from every Hoyne beer sold at the Curling Centre throughout the month of March to YANA! 🍻

The amazing team at Andrew Sheret recently included YANA in their event by running a 50/50 in support of local families and then went above and beyond by making an INCREDIBLE additional donation!!! 🎉

We love seeing local businesses find meaningful ways to weave YANA into what they’re already doing. Andrew Sheret, thank you for choosing YANA and for showing up for local families in such a BIG way. We’re so lucky to have businesses like yours in our community! 🩵💛🧡💚