The fourth edition of the Camp Out to End Youth Homelessness is tonight in Kamloops, and it will be different for a lot of reasons.
The event put on by the non-profit A Way Home Kamloops will happen over Zoom starting at 6 p.m., with people camping in their yards because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Event’s founder Katherine McParland died suddenly a week ago at the age of 33, and A Way Home board chair Louise Richards says holding the event is one way to carry on Katherine’s legacy.
“We’re satisfied that we were to carry it off, because we were in such the late stages of the planning. And so we’re happy that we were able to continue with it, knowing it’s something that Katherine would be fully supportive of,” Richards says.
“The Camp Out, the decision to continue with it was actually not that difficult. The reason being is that is it was a way for us to look at carrying on Katherine’s vision.”
McParland was the executive director of A Way Home Kamloops and dedicated her life to working towards eradicating youth homelessness. She was homeless herself for several years after aging out of the foster care system, and worked tirelessly to ensure other at-risk youth wouldn’t have the same experience.
She also was a board member for BC Housing and a member of the federal government’s advisory committee on homelessness. McParland had just finished getting a Master’s degree in Social Work earlier this year, doing important work for the Office of the Representative for Children and Youth.
According to A Way Home Kamloops’ fundraising page at time of posting, this year’s Camp Out event has already raised just over $55,000, though there are indications that at least $75,000 has been raised, with more on the way. Last year, the event raised just over $60,000, while the 2018 event raised just over $52,000.
Kelson Group president Jason Fawcett and his daughter Celia are the top fundraisers, having raised over $20,000 so far.
“We’ve worked with A Way Home. They rent a few apartments from us and they provide some exceptional services to the youth that need a little extra help to find a home. Its really important that we all get out there and support it,” he said.
The Fawcett’s will be camping out in their yard like many of the participants this year.
“Really looking forward to it. Its going to be a cold night, but we can give up one night to experience what lots of people do throughout the year, and too many people have to. Homelessness is something that none of us want to experience and when you’re young, its not the way you want to start your adult life.”
A full agenda for tonight’s Camp Out can be found here.
Tonight I will be sleeping in a cardboard box to help raise money and awareness for youth homelessness. This is my one night a year to gain perspective from the other side to help me make better decisions around the #kamloops council table. https://t.co/7lZ4yXmGJF
— Mike O’Reilly (@mikeoreilly2018) December 11, 2020
