Five Grade 10 students representing Canuck Place Children’s Hospice won the first-semester semifinals of a contest held Wednesday (Jan. 13) at W.J. Mouat Secondary.
Luke Snow, Kenji Noftle, Jacob Kooy, Sadie Baird and Jaenjira (JJ) Lane now advance to the finals in June as part of the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) and a chance to win $5,000 for their charity.
The three chose Canuck Place for their presentation because Kooy’s sister, who died at the age of four, had attended the location in Vancouver during the last months of her life.
The YPI program is an international initiative designed to support young people in developing community awareness.
Students are taught about philanthropy and charity as part of their Planning 10 course at Mouat.
In teams, they research social issues in the community and create a presentation on a local charity they believe is best placed to tackle an issue for which they are passionate.
The YPI semi-finals involve the winning team from each class making a 10-minute presentation in front of a larger audience and panel of judges.
Students at this year’s event represented six charities.
Second place went to Ravneet Dhaliwal, Tajinder Dhadda, Amreet Dhaliwal, Geiti Joubble, and Alice Shan for their presentation on Zajac Ranch.
Other charities represented were the Canadian Cancer Society, Semiahmoo House Society, Abbotsford Hospice Society and Women’s Resource Society of the Fraser Valley.
In June, the second-semester semifinals will be held, with the winner advancing to the finals later that day against the first-semester winners.
The top team wins a $5,000 grant for their charity provided by the Toskan Casale Foundation in association with YPI’s partners and donors. Schools interested in the program must apply and have their application reviewed and approved before they can participate.
The program is open to schools in Canada, New York City, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
More information is available at goypi.org.