Kelowna, B.C., parade that began with just 3 floats now attracts thousands

A holiday event that began in 2020 during the pandemic with three floats on pickup trucks has now become one of Kelowna’s big winter events, drawing thousands to the city’s downtown core.

The "Parade with a Purpose" began as a way to lift spirits and spread holiday cheer during COVID-19 lockdowns, according to event co-founder Shadia Doty.

“It was a family idea sitting around the Sunday dinner table,” Doty said in an interview with CBC’s Daybreak South. “And my dad actually said, ‘Wouldn't it be cool to do a parade?'

"Anything [about] Christmas, my mom and I, we just go full throttle’.”

Within days, Doty and her mother Pam Turgeon had decorated a pickup truck, recruited a Santa Claus and paraded through the Kettle Valley neighbourhood to collect food donations. 

She said the moment would become the start of something deeper, and the parade was shaped by years of loss.

“I lost my brother to mental health and addiction in 2016," she said. "He struggled since he was 16 with addiction issues rooted in trauma, as most kids do when they turn to drugs."

Doty's brother's death came nine years after her husband's death to an accidental overdose. The same year she lost her brother, she also lost a friend who was a nanny to her children.

Doty says the parade eventually turned into a drive to raise funds for mental health supports, and honour people whose lives were cut short by mental-health and addiction challenges.

“Navigating grief in the holidays and navigating grief in general is difficult, but we've decided to channel it and support the community," the organizer said.

After the initial neighbourhood drive in their pickups in 2020, fundraising jumped year after year.

Over the last four years, the mother-and-daughter duo have raised more than $700,000.

According to the organizers, the funds were first raised for the Bridge Youth & Family Services.

It's helping the non-profit build a youth recovery house, that provides a live-in program for youth aged 12 to 18 who are facing serious mental health challenges.