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Dr. Bonnie Henry inspired B.C. teen’s winning face mask design

The Langley Memorial Hospital Foundation held a mask design contest, and two winners were selected
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Sonya Janeskewski is a music student at Langley Fine Arts School but used her visual arts talents to design a face mask design for the Langley Memorial Hospital Foundation contest. (LMHF/Special to the Langley Advance Times)

People are being bombarded with information about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amid the long list of dos and don’ts, and rules, and regulations people encounter daily, Sonya Janeshewski wanted to offer some encouragement in her submission to the Langley Memorial Hospital Foundation face mask design contest.

The Langley Fine Arts school music student found inspiration in the words of Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial chief medical officer, and it won the 14-year-old the youth category.

• BUY a LMHF face mask with one of the winning designs.

Janeshewski said she was grateful for the opportunity to take part in the contest since her mom has received good care during a trip to Langley Memorial Hospital.

Truth be told, Janeshewski forgot she entered because the deadline to announce the winner came and went in July. Then she woke up to a surprise email that said she won.

“It was so cool,” she said. “So I ran to my mom and dad’s room.”

She found out about the contest from a friend and the words of Dr. Henry came floating into her consciousness. The contest got her thinking about the pandemic and about her community.

Her mask design is a cluster of positive words in different fonts and colours.

“I’ve done a lot of word art, but it just mostly for me and school,” she said.

Her mom has sewn her some masks, but Janeshewski is excitedly waiting to see her art on a foundation mask.

“We were blown away by the creativity Langley showed, and the love and support they wanted to give back to the community,” said Terra Scheer, responsible for foundation communications.

The adult category was won by Harleen Kaur Gill.

The 23-year-old local woman used the image of hands forming a heart that frames a group of health care workers.

“Thank you for this opportunity for me to support my community and the amazing front line workers,” Gill said. “I definitely appreciate all they are doing during this difficult time.”

The masks will be available for the public to purchase starting in September but can be ordered through the foundation website. They will cost $20 apiece with proceeds going to support the foundation and the orders are delivered to people’s homes.

The foundation is also welcoming local businesses that want to carry the masks. So far Country Lumber is on-board.

“Wearing a non-medical face mask – even if you have no symptoms – is an additional measure you can take to protect others around you and stop the spread of COVID-19,” Scheer noted.

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Email: heather.colpitts@langleyadvancetimes.com
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Sonya Janeshewski, 14, was chosen as the youth winner of the Langley Memorial Hospital Foundation face mask design contest. (Janeshewski family/Special to the Langley Advance Times)
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Heather Colpitts

About the Author: Heather Colpitts

Since starting in the news industry in 1992, my passion for sharing stories has taken me around Western Canada.
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