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AWARE receives $1,000 donation from B.C. newspaper awards

Pique's winning feature secures financial gift for environmental group
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raising awareness AWARE will be using a $1,000 donation from Pique , via International Web Express and the B.C. and Yukon Community Newspaper Awards, to support its Crafty By Nature event this year. From left to right: Pique contributor Vince Shuley, Byron Sheardown of International Web Express, and AWARE's Andrew Runciman and Claire Ruddy. photo by clare ogilvie

The Association of Whistler Area Residents for the Environment (AWARE) got a boost for its Crafty By Nature Event thanks to a $1,000 donation from Pique.

Last April Whistler's most-read newsmagazine was awarded several top journalism awards by the B.C. and Yukon Community Newspaper Association — one of these was for environmental journalism and came with a $1,000 cash award.

Pique contributor Vince Shuley, who wrote the winning feature on AWARE, decided that the cash prize should go back to the organization, which inspired the feature.

It will be used to support the second annual Crafty by Nature event Aug.30 — an all-ages outdoor celebration of all things environmental with music, food and crafts for families.

"With this being a small grass-roots event, a $1,000 donation is a huge addition to the event," said AWARE's executive director Claire Ruddy. "What it is going to allow us to do is to bring more people in to the event, which in turn will encourage more people to engage with our local environment here in Whistler, but also learn about things they can do at home.

"For us $1,000 is a significant addition to this event."

The cash prize is donated annually to the BCYCNA by International Web Express Inc.

"I think it is an exciting way to use the money, and helping to make children aware of environmental issues is really, really important and I'll be bringing my three kids up," said Byron Sheardown of International Web Express, who came up from Vancouver to award the cheque to AWARE June 12. "I am a strong believer in our environment being protected, and there are ways you can do that, and this is one of them — it is important to raise awareness.

"We give away a lot of money to groups and it is really great to see the ones that use the money really well for great purposes, such as this one."

AWARE is a membership-based, volunteer-driven charity, which has been working for the Whistler environment since 1989.

It works to protect the natural environment in Whistler and the Sea to Sky, through advocacy and speaking up about key environmental issues and empowering others to do the same through education.

The organization's focus is on the conservation of natural resources, ecosystems, wildlife, flora and fauna, which it seeks to achieve through presenting well-researched, proactive solutions developed through consultation.