Kelowna, B.C., parade that began with just 3 floats now attracts thousands
CBC
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.
Two years after an Edmonton man sustained fatal injuries while on shift at a northern Alberta pulp mill, workplace safety charges have been laid in his death.
About 30 properties in the Fraser Valley are under evacuation alert as the atmospheric river pummeling B.C. increases flood and landslide risks in several parts of the province.
WARNING: This story references allegations of child abuse.
Police say it was a 67-year-old Chatham man who died while scuba diving at the Erieau marina on Wednesday morning.
Enmax declared its lowest dividend, to be paid to the City of Calgary, in four years in its 2025 financial results.
Rilee Willianen says the City of Thunder Bay has received wide-ranging feedback about its plans to create designated encampment sites.
The Ontario government is planning to outlaw sky-high ticket resale prices, according to a news release.
As March break comes to an end, there are lots of fun events happening on the weekend in Waterloo region, Guelph and Wellington County.
Yukon RCMP are renewing their plea for public help in the investigation into an unsolved 2023 double homicide near Mayo.
Thousands of Muslims in Calgary will mark the end of Ramadan by celebrating Eid al-Fitr on Friday, bringing to a close a month of worship, reflection and fasting.
Dozens of people walked through downtown London Wednesday night shining candles in honour of a First Nation’s woman found dead in the city last month, while also calling for increased awareness about missing and murdered Indigenous peoples.
Have tips for navigating telecom customer service? We want to hear from you. Click the “Join the Conversation” button above. On the app? Join here.
The Health Sciences Centre's cardiac catheterization lab has just completed a major upgrade. It’s been a makeover five years in the making, and officials say the waitlist is already improving.