News

The Hillbilly Masters Golf Tournament at Crown Isle added YANA to their fun and we are grateful. Thank you!

Happy belated birthday, Hazel! Thank you for fundraising for YANA!

Hazel's 9th Birthday

Thank you to Road Runners Learn to Run Clinic leaders and participants who took part in a special yoga class with proceeds to YANA. A big thank you to Deb Karlstrom for leading the session.

Yoga for YANA Deb Karlstrom and the Roadrunners at Learn to Run Clinic 2016

Did you know that there was a Bikram Yoga Marathon benefitting YANA where yogis participated in 3 classes back-to-back? Talk about hot and awesome!

Iain and Sandy Bikram Yoga 2016 crop

Easter Eggstravaganza led by the Town of Comox and Investors Group was a huge success. Thank you to all contributing businesses, volunteers and participants.

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Thank you, Costco, for your generous donation to YANA. We appreciate your support of local children and their families.

Costco 2016 !!!

YANA is Moving to Tin Town May 1st

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The YANA office will be moving to 102 – 2456 Rosewall Crescent in Tin Town as of May 1. It is an exciting and busy time as we prepare for moving day.  Fortunately we get by with a little help from our friends… in this case, a lot of help!

Grant Construction is renovating our new space to meet our needs and it is looking fantastic. This father and son team is showing YANA a lot of love while they volunteer together and share their talent. Painting-diva, Robbie Rusk, and her helpful side-kick, Kelly Rusk, are working their magic to ensure our walls are bright and freshly painted. Comox Moving and Storage will be moving our things free of charge. We are grateful for everyone’s efforts.

We will miss our downtown location and are forever grateful to Ives Burger Barristers and Solicitors who have provided us with a fantastic space for many years at a very low rate.

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We are looking forward to our new neighbourhood and the lovely people and businesses in Tin Town. All our other contact information remains the same and there will be no gap in service to families while we transition to our new space. Please update our address in your records and come for a visit!

New address: 102 – 2456 Rosewall Crescent, Courtenay BC, V9N 8R9

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Doctor brewing up unique YANA fundraiser

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Brad Harris and his wife Denise display a bottle of Royston Nano Brewery beer at Gladstone Brewing Company, the site of an upcoming fundraiser for YANA featuring Harris's beer. PHOTO BY ERIN HALUSCHAK

Brad Harris and his wife Dennyse display a bottle of Royston Nano Brewery beer at Gladstone Brewing Company, the site of an upcoming fundraiser for YANA featuring Harris’s beer. PHOTO BY ERIN HALUSCHAK

Brad Harris isn’t afraid of a challenge.

The full-time family physician by day and self-taught brewer by night (and owner of the Royston Nano Brewery) will soon brew the most beer he has ever brewed – 1,800 litres to be exact.

And as much as he likes to share with friends, family and fellow beer-drinkers, this beer is aimed not only at ‘hop heads,’ but to give back to those who helped his family during one of their biggest challenges.

Harris, who practises at the Comox Medial Clinic and St. Joseph’s General Hospital, began brewing his first batch of beer in January 2012.

In November of that same year, his daughter Linden became ill.

“You would think I would know; it happened literally overnight. At 9:30 when I got home she was coughing and had a fever … a day later she was helicoptered off-Island. I drove with my mom to Vancouver and showed up at Children’s Hospital at the ER, and they were moving her up to oncology.”

After a battery of tests, Linden, then three-and-a-half years old, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, one of only 35 children in the province to get diagnosed with leukemia every year.

Following two-and-a-half years of chemotherapy, Linden is now healthy with a 90 per cent chance the cancer will never return, explained Harris.

While in Vancouver, Harris and his family depended on support from the Comox Valley – particularly that of You Are Not Alone (YANA), which provides accommodations and funding for local families who need to travel outside of the area for treatment for a child under 19 years of age.

Now, with the help of his brewing skills and a partnership between the Royston Nano Brewery and Gladstone Brewing Company in Courtenay, Harris is giving back, challenging himself to make his largest quantity of “unapologetically in-your-face, pushed-to-the-limit IPA.”

The limited release began brewing at Gladstone this week, and will go on sale May 6, as part of the It’s Not Just Beer, It’s Love event for pint sales and growler fills, with all profits donated equally between YANA and BC Children’s Hospital Oncology services.

Harris hopes to raise around $10,000.

“The Harris family has a powerful story,” explained Ocean Varney, community relations co-ordinator for YANA. “It’s a moving experience to hear them speak about their journey, as a family, through Linden’s treatment. Their commitment to giving back to their community and passion for YANA is inspiring. It’s definitely an endeavour that’s powered by love, and on our end we are feeling the love, for sure.”

The beer will be using a third generation Gladstone yeast – a technique used regularly – which was used to create the brewery’s porter and IPA.

Harris’s love for all things beer developed a few years ago after a dinner with friends, who asked him outside of medicine, about his passion.

“I sat back and said: ‘let me think about this. What have I been consistently interested in? Beer.’ It’s a silly thing to have a passion in, but I’ve been interested in it since I was legally able to drink.

“I’ve spent time travelling around the world, and we’ve always made sure to take time out wherever we go to make sure and try the beer. I thought – ‘hey I can brew it.’”

Between working with his patients at the hospital and spending time with his wife and two children and brewing beer, Harris admitted with a laugh he doesn’t sleep much.

The It’s Not Just Beer, It’s Love event takes place May 6 at Gladstone Brewery, starting at 5 p.m. For more information visit roystonnanobrewery.com.

~ Erin Haluschak, Comox Valley Record 

Volunteers – the roots of strong communities

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Volunteer at Annual Simon's Cycles YANA Ride

Tammy, a volunteer at the annual Simon’s Cycles YANA Ride.

Mention the word ‘volunteer’ to anyone involved in a non-profit society and their response will likely include the word ‘backbone.’

April 10-16 is National Volunteer Week — a time to celebrate the 12.7 million Canadians who donate time to numerous causes. The website describes volunteers as ‘the roots of strong communities.’

At Volunteer Comox Valley, the vision is to be ‘an agent of change that promotes community engagement through the power of service.’

People volunteer time for various reasons, be it helping others or doing something fun in their spare time.

There is also an economic side to volunteerism. British Columbians, for instance, contribute an estimated 114 million volunteer hours each year.

“If you look at it Canada-wide, the number of hours contributed is about five per cent of the GDP,” said Tyler Voigt, executive director at Volunteer Comox Valley (VCV). “That’s a substantial number.”

Locally, there are numerous volunteer opportunities with organizations such as the Cumberland Community Schools Society, the Therapeutic Riding Society, Relay for Life, Scouts Canada, Girl Guides and the Community Justice Centre Society. These are all listed on the VCV website.

Vancouver Island MusicFest would not happen without its estimated 1,300 volunteers who tend to the gates, stages, food and other aspects of the annual gathering.

“Our volunteers are the heart and the backbone of MusicFest,” executive producer Doug Cox said. “The festival could not happen without them, nor would we want it to!”

You Are Not Alone (YANA) — another Comox Valley entity — has a pool of 200-plus volunteers to contact when the time comes to host an event, such as the YANA Ride. It also has about 15 volunteers, including a board of directors, who assist on a regular basis. Community relations co-ordinator Ocean Varney describes them as an eclectic variety of youths, retirees, parents, empty nesters and millennials who are generous, lively, fun, and full of heart.

“That YANA is able to fulfill our mandate, of offering accommodation and direct funds to Comox Valley families that need to travel outside our community for the medical care of a child or pregnant mother, is directly linked to the time and effort generously given by our volunteers,” Varney said. “From our board of directors who not only govern but are active volunteers, to our regular office assistants, to our event co-ordinators and event volunteers, they are the backbone of our organization as well as the heart.”

A Stats Canada survey indicates 10 per cent of volunteers contribute over 50 per cent of volunteer hours. Most are 65 years or older. The survey also determined that youth are more frequently involved but on a shorter time period.

“It comes back to having time available to do it,” said Voigt, noting social isolation can be a problem for the elderly. “I think that volunteering to get out of the house is the first thing, but then they realize there’s even more benefits than that.”

A new angle of Volunteer BC is to engage the baby boomer demographic.

“We need to find ways to engage them because they’re the ones that are going to have to take up the torch essentially,” Voigt said. “With this disparity in time contribution, there could be a bit of a problem there for non-profit organizations in the future if we don’t find ways to engage the baby boomer demographic.

“Because it’s an aging demographic, we’re going to have more people that are going to need hospice support, we’re going to need more long-term care facilities. We’re going to need a lot of things that engage volunteers as well. It’s kind of a Catch-22. It’s a bit tricky to provide more service when you don’t have enough volunteers to provide it…It’s funding as well. It’s a big question right now in the health care sector.”

Voigt takes pleasure when explaining to clients that volunteers can pick and choose and dictate time commitment — unlike job seekers who take what they can get.

“Do what you’re passionate about, do what you’re empathetic about, what you care about in the community.”

Volunteer Comox Valley serves 300 to 400 clients a year. Many are newcomers to the community, or new retirees. Charities, service organizations and individuals looking for volunteers can advertise with VCV.

This year, the organization received a $1,550 grant from the Comox Valley Community Foundation. The money will be used to purchase a digital projector to help train volunteer co-ordinators.

“It’s going to be very helpful,” Voigt said.

Volunteer Comox Valley is located at Unit C1 – 450 8th St. in Courtenay. Call (250) 334-8063, or visit their website at volunteercomoxvalley.ca

~ Scott Stanfield, Comox Valley Record

The Kids’ Clutter Is Back For Spring!

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Gear up for summer with all the great gear on sale at the YANA Kids’ Clutter Sale on Sunday, April 17th.

Join us at Courtenay Elementary, 1540 McPhee Avenue, from 10am until 2pm and shop until you drop. Clothing, shoes, books, toys, sports equipment, baby gear, and more, all at amazing prices!

This semi-annual sale is a ‘must’ for young families.

Kids Clutter April 2016

For more information click here.