There are plenty of parents without the means to give their children the skiing and snowboarding experience.
Thanks to the Bluebird Day Fund — a non-profit society established in 2010 in memory of former Sun Peaks resident Bryn Taylor — many economically disadvantaged youths will shred powder this winter.
“I really enjoy snowboarding and it’s really nice to share it with a kid who normally wouldn’t be able to get out and enjoy it,” said Dominik Koric, who is entering his third consecutive year in a mentorship role with the program.
“It’s been great. He really loves coming up.”
The Sun Peaks Bluebird Society (SPBS) partners with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kamloops to pair mentors with youths who apply to participate in the program. The organization also has other established programs which run every winter, such as Bluebird Park Sessions and
competition reimbursement.
There is a budget for 15 children to take part in the Sports Mentorship program this season and Bryan Lupul, president of the SPBS, said there is room for four more mentors to sign on.
“A lot of the parents are thankful because their kid wouldn’t do anything like this if we didn’t have the program going,” Lupul said.
“It’s definitely one of the programs we’re trying to build as big as we can.”
Mentors are required to dedicate six Sundays — two each in January, February and March, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. — to the children with whom they are paired.
A bus picks up the kids in Kamloops and drops them off in the same spot when the day is over.
Mentors are required to provide their own ski passes and find transportation to and from Sun Peaks.
To learn more about the Bluebird Day Fund, go online to bluebirddayfund.com, where there
are links to apply.
“Once we’ve found candidates at Bluebird, we contact Big Brothers and they do criminal-record and background checks,” said Ben Morris, marketing director for the Bluebird Day Fund. “Then they partner them with the kids most in need in the area.
“The mentors usually get a lot more out of it than they anticipate.”
Taylor, a passionate snowboarder, was 24 when he and two friends went out for drinks after finishing a job on Nov. 1, 2006.
They were driving home to Ashcroft when the truck his friend was driving veered off the road. Taylor and the friend who was driving were thrown from the truck and killed.
“It’s a bluebird day,” was one of Taylor’s favourite sayings.
The fund supplies children with transportation, skiing and snowboarding gear, a day pass at Sun Peaks and lunch at Masa’s Bar + Grill.
Koric has mentored the same boy, who turns 11 in April, for the past three years and watched him grow up on the mountain.
“It’s pretty fulfilling showing someone around and helping them enjoy something they wouldn’t be able to afford without the program,” said Koric, who’s lived in Sun Peaks for 10 years.
“It’s something I’ve really enjoyed doing.”
Bluebird Fundraisers
The sixth annual Giverballs Open Golf Tournament was held on Friday, September 18.
The event was one of two major fundraisers that help support the Bluebird Day Fund, providing money which goes toward sustaining programs and new gear for the children.
“We used to get second-hand gear through fundraising drives, but it ended up being really junky stuff for the most part,” said Morris, noting the golf tournament was expected to raise about $4,000.
The annual Fall Ball is the next Bluebird Day fundraiser, a black-tie event usually held on the first weekend of November.
“That’s a real big one for the grown-ups,” Morris said. “They get to really dress up and we make a theme each year.”
Tickets will be made available when organizers determine a date for the event. More information will be made available at bluebirddayfund.com.
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