Lake City Secondary School student Rylee Pilkington is among the national winners in the Kids Paying-It-Forward program launched by Sobeys this spring as a way to give back to communities and youth while celebrating Canada’s 150th anniversary.
Under the program, Sobeys empowered 150 youth across the country to give $500 to their favourite charity as part of its Canada Screams for Ice Cream fundraiser that took place at Sobeys, Safeway and IGA stores in Western Canada.
Williams Lake Safeway selected Big Brothers Big Sisters of Williams Lake to participate in the program.
BBBS executive director Melissa Newberry said the invitation to apply for the Kids Paying-It-Forward funding was extended to youth in their in-school mentoring programs. Rylee Pilkington, then a participant in their Grade 7 Go Girls program accepted the challenge.
The contest involved filling out an online application and writing a letter saying why BBBS should receive the $500.
Rylee’s letter ended up being one of the 150 Canadian winners.
Now a Grade 8 student at Lake City Secondary’s Columneetza campus, Rylee said she was happy to write the letter supporting BBBS because she had fun and learned a lot in the program.
This year Rylee says her favourite subject is math and she is contemplating playing rugby.
The following is Rylee’s winning letter:
I chose Big Brothers Big Sisters of Williams Lake because this year I was selected to participate in the group called Go Girls! that the organization puts on.
The group was run by three mentors and there were about 10 girls in it.
We learned about healthy bodies and healthy minds, and I became friends with girls in the group who I never thought I’d be friends with.
Go Girls! was a comfortable, safe place for me to go and talk freely about issues facing teenagers. We got to learn about things like healthy relationships, healthy eating and a positive body image.
I learned how important it is to eat healthy, but also that it is okay to have a treat too.
I looked forward to going to the group every week and it really helped me open up and boost my self-esteem.
Everyone had so much fun playing games, enjoying healthy snacks and talking and asking questions about peer pressure, making good decisions, how to have good communication skills and so many more topics with our mentors.
If it weren’t for Big Brothers Big Sisters, I would not have been able to attend this group that has benefited me in so many ways.
Submitted by Rylee Pilkington to the Pay it Forward Initiative.
Grade 7 Student Columneetza, June 2017.