Kelowna teenager October Angell-Janfield (Toby) organized a care program for young people living in the Okanagan.
Toby’s idea of putting together sets of essentials and “nice-to-have” items wasn’t easy to pull off.
He is a member of the Downtown Youth Center, run by the club formerly known as the Boys and Girls Club, now called BGC Okanagan.
Toby has been working on this project since 2020, when the club ran a program teaching young people how to write proposals, apply for grants and make a difference in the community.
He explained that the project was never meant to come to fruition, it was just a learning exercise. However, COVID-19-induced boredom and a nudge from his mentors shook things up.
Unfortunately, the wind was taken out of her sails early on. Toby’s first grant proposal was turned down and he said he “felt like giving up.”
Fortunately, Toby has strong role models like BGC employee Scotia Hewitt who encouraged him to keep trying. She has experience securing grants for community projects and has helped Toby overcome obstacles and secure funding.
He eventually got a grant from Rising Youth for $1,500.
So far, Toby has purchased $1,000 worth of medkit items.
“I bought 50 grocery bags full of stuff for the care packages,” said Toby who arranged the groceries and transport of the goods himself.
Now he is working with the City of Kelowna to purchase bus tickets worth $500. He plans to put a few bus tickets in each care package as one of the “nice-to-have items”.
Toby took great care in selecting what to include and interviewed friends, family and community members for their ideas. He also spoke to people who have experienced homelessness and said socks were the most suggested item.
After taking some time off from this stressful undertaking, Toby has selfless plans for the future and encourages others to get involved in their community.
“People aren’t taking advantage of the money available for grants,” Toby said. “It’s definitely worth it if you get approved.”
@Rangers_mom
Jacqueline.Gelineau@kelownacapnews.com
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Charity and donationsCity of Kelowna