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Spotlight: Cancer survivor climbs Mt. K

Recent accomplishments by residents, businesses and groups in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody.
mt k

CANCER TREK

Coquitlam cancer survivor Estelle De Jager tackled Mt. Kilimanjaro this summer to raise funds for the BC Cancer Foundation. De Jager, who recently tested positive for BRCA2 mutation, summited the mountain in Tanzania Aug. 19.

 

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NOT IN ENGLISH

Talk of the Town Toastmasters hosted a “language extravaganza” at Coquitlam city hall, with members Megin Alvarez, Josheph Ng, Deep Atwal, Irene Manevich, Alma Tarelli, Cecilia Ibarra and Thomas Kim delivering speeches.

 

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UBCM KUDOS

Coquitlam politicians accepted a Community Excellence Award last month at the UBCM convention in Whistler. The city was recognized as the winner in the asset management funding framework category.

 

 

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COLLEGE HONOUR

Amy Parent is this year’s distinguished alumni award recipient for Douglas College, which has a campus in Coquitlam. An assistant professor of Indigenous Education at Simon Fraser University, the college alumna was chosen for her work to reduce barriers to education for Aboriginal youth. Parent was nominated for the accolade by Dave Seaweed, Douglas College’s Aboriginal Student Services co-ordinator. Parent took social sciences at Douglas and in 2004 transferred to SFU to complete a bachelor’s degree; she later earned her master’s and PhD in education at UBC.

Meanwhile, the Douglas College Foundation recently announced six new directors to its board. They are: Jill Cook (past executive director to the Coquitlam Foundation and past CEO of the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce); Jay Dargaetz (president of Canstar Restorations); Kathy Gallagher (manager of Envision Financial, Sunwood branch); John Halani (Consul of Uganda and proprietor of the Tropicana Suite Hotel); Jamal Khan (entrepreneur); and Sasha Ramnarine (lawyer with Remedios and Company).

HEALTH BOOST
A fundraising drive for the new Mental Health and Substance Use Wellness Centre at Royal Columbian Hospital, which serves the Tri-Cities, got a $100,000 injection last month. Great-West Life, London Life and Canada Life donated the money for the hospital foundation’s campaign for the project that, when complete, will provide 75 mental health beds (including Fraser Health’s first older adult psychiatric unit), a psychiatric high acuity unit and new and expanded outpatient clinics; the amenities, now under construction, will replace the Sherbrooke Centre. “This new facility will provide a significant opportunity for ground-breaking research, increased psychiatric training and state-of-the-art patient care,” said RCH Foundation president and CEO Jeff Norris, in a news release.

FIVE SILVER BLOOMS

Coquitlam scooped 5 Blooms - Silver and got a nod for Town Centre Park from the Communities in Bloom last month. The city also won the Bees Matter Pollinator Friendly Community Award.jcleugh@tricitynews.com