Parksville Beach Festival vice president/treasurer Leslie Phillips (L) and president Cheryl Dill (R) acknowledging their volunteer gate ambassadors at a ceremony at Parksville City Hall. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

cheque presentation

Parksville Beach Festival Society tops $1 million donation mark

Oct 7, 2022 | 3:06 PM

PARKSVILLE — During a time when non-profits need a boost more than ever, much-needed cash injections gave reps from nearly 30 valued local service providers reasons to smile.

Thursday, Oct. 6 was cheque day for the Parksville Beach Festival Society and its gate ambassadors, who staffed its recent five week Sandsculpting Competition and Exhibition.

A record $75,012 was split between 26 local non-profit organizations who welcomed visitors to the iconic event drawing more than 115,000 people to the Community Park. An emotional society president Cheryl Dill said it was uplifting to see the reactions of their appreciative partners.

“These groups are incredibly excited to be able to re-activate the good work that they do and to be able to tap into some grant funds without a lot of labour and energy to put into that, sometimes grants are difficult to apply for.”

Dill welled up in tears while referencing the amount of money raised for their volunteers, many of whom represented organizations severely impacted with vastly reduced cash flow during pandemic restrictions.

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The Parksville Beach Festival staged its first Sandscuplting Competition and Exhibition this past summer following back-to-back cancelled events in 2020 and 2021.

“Since 2000 Parksville Beach Festival Society has donated over $1 million dollars to the community, the majority of which goes back to gate ambassadors, but we’ve also donated to community projects such as the outdoor stage, the gazebo in the park and signage for Parksville,” Dill said.

Vulnerable seniors, children and athletes with developmental disabilities were among those supported through the Parksville Beach Festival donation.

Environmental restoration projects, community safety initiatives and local literacy programs were also funded.

People representing 26 non-profit organizations serving the Parksville-Qualicum Beach area benefited from a record donation from the Parksville Beach Festival Society. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

One of the beneficiaries is Bowser Seniors Housing Society, which has been on a long journey to create a 22-unit independent living facility.

The organization’s Laurie Basok said a cheque for nearly $3,400 will come in handy with money hard to come by over the last two-and-a-half years.

“Especially in the first year of the pandemic things really slowed down for us then we started to pick up again, so to see this come back has been fantastic and a real shot in the arm.”

Basok said they have more than $330,000 raised toward the project to provide reduced mortgage rates for their members in the Bowser village core.

She said discussions are ongoing with BC Housing, who she said has partnered with their organization since 2016.

Eileen Beadle, who also represents Bowser Housing Society, said Parksville Beach Festival Society is far more than an organization staging a popular sandsculpting competition.

She pointed to to how many local lives the society touches on a continual basis.

“These people are fabulous to work with and you can see what they do for the community, it’s amazing,” Beadle said.

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ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes