ON COMMAND
A new mobile command centre for Coquitlam Search and Rescue received $60,000 from the Coquitlam Foundation, a philanthropy group that started its Coquitlam SAR Society Fund 13 years ago. The new vehicle was dedicated last Saturday at the Coquitlam Town Centre fire hall.
WEED PULL
Dozens of students at Moody middle school joined Lower Mainland Green Team volunteers last week to pull invasive plants such as Himalayan blackberry, English ivy and periwinkle from Old Orchard Park in Port Moody.
REAL CARE
The Eagleton Group of realtors — Christine, Alan, Ryan and Adrian — donated $5,000 to KidSport Tri-Cities to help about 20 Tri-City kids play a season of sport, said the charity’s executive director Chris Wilson (pictured left).
CHEER AT RCH
The Group of Five and Friends Benevolent Society along the Rotary Club of New Westminster have given more than $7,500 to fund a play area and mural at Royal Columbian Hospital, which serves the Tri-Cities.
FOUNDATION LEADER
Dwight Yochim, a registered professional forester and a former manager with Coquitlam Search and Rescue, is the new executive director for the Coquitlam Foundation. This week, the charitable group named the Coquitlam resident to the top job to replace Jill Cook, who has retired. “We are extremely pleased to have Dwight join us as we prepare for our upcoming year of community philanthropy,” said foundation chairperson Janet Toddington, in a news release. “He comes to us with a wealth of experience, having held executive director positions in a number of major non-profit organizations.”
NATIONAL SPORTS GIG
A sport science instructor at Douglas College, which has a campus in Coquitlam, will lead a national movement to build awareness around health education. Brian Storey, who was named president of Physical and Health Education Canada last week, will work with the Canadian agency that is made up of physical and health education experts to get kids fit. A former Olympian, Storey is trained as a public school teacher. In his nine years as Douglas College’s chair of the sports science department, he helped to develop the graduate diploma in physical education.
GOV. GEN. HONOURS
Two Tri-City constables were to be awarded with meritorious service decorations this week. On Friday, Gov. General David Johnston will recognized45 exceptional recipients at Rideau Hall in Ottawa — among them, Const. Mark Warren Steinkampf of Coquitlam and Const. Alan Dennis Arsenault of Port Moody. The pair was two of seven Vancouver police officers who, in 1997, decided to film their daily patrols of the downtown eastside and their encounters with drug addicts. Over two years, they chronicled the effects of substance abuse for their first flick, titled Through the Blue Lens. As Odd Squad Productions, the group created a series of award-winning films on such subjects as guns, gangs, drugs and other crimes.
