VANCOUVER ISLAND – The last couple of years have been tough ones to navigate for our young people. Coastal Community Credit Union recently offered a helping hand to eight local grade twelve students to help them with their next steps. The high school seniors each received $2,000 toward their post-secondary goals through Coastal Community’s scholarship program.
Since 2005, the Credit Union has been offering $17,000 in annual scholarships to local students who plan to attend undergraduate college or university, trade school or special interest school. The application comes with a twist: Students apply by submitting a plan for a project to improve their community.
Based on these plans, eight students are chosen for a $2,000 scholarship, with two selected as overall winners. This year Lyra Fletcher of North Island Secondary School and Emmy Lan of Mark R. Isfeld Secondary school took top honours. In addition to their $2,000 award, they will each receive up to $1,000 to implement their projects, as well as an additional $500 scholarship.
Lyra’s plan is a project to revitalize the connector trail between the two trail systems on Cormorant Island. The high school senior feels having greater access to the trails will benefit residents, tourists and local businesses alike and will be a great community re-addition.
Champion cyclist Emmy organized a one-day free mountain biking event for young girls last year, called Connecting Sister Shredders. She will use her implementation funds this summer to bring back the successful project for a second time. Her event gives more girls access to cycling while building their confidence.
Congratulations to each of our eight winners! They all sent in creative and thoughtful plans.
| Lyra Fletcher | North Island Secondary School, Port McNeill |
| Emmy Lan | Mark R. Isfeld Secondary School, Courtenay |
| Alissa Morris | Dover Bay Secondary School, Nanaimo |
| Claire O’Brien | Ecole Bellenas Secondary School, Parksville |
| Emilia Maras-Hilling | Wellington Secondary School, Nanaimo |
| Isabella Richards | Dover Bay Secondary School, Nanaimo |
| Juliana Monk | Victoria High School, Victoria |
| Lucinda Gullison | Brentwood College School, Mill Bay |
“At Coastal Community, we know that there’s no greater investment we can make than in our young people,” said Allyson Prescesky, Senior Manager, Community and Communications. “As these young leaders have shown, the youth of today are the key to building healthier communities for tomorrow, and we’re proud to help improve their financial health on their journey.”
@cccu.ca