A NASS Valley student, who missed the coin drive at his school to raise money to help the people in Burns Lake after the mill fire there, went on his own fundraising drive.
Owen Percival, 10-years-old and a Grade 4 student at Gitwinksihlkw Elementary School in Gitwinksihlkw (Canyon City), went door to door in Aiyansh on two evenings, and collected pennies and donations totalling $365.
He lives in New Aiyansh.
Owen collected more than 5,000 pennies, and rolled them at home with his mother’s help.
Owen said he did this because he wanted to help the people in the community of Burns Lake, which was hit hard on Jan. 20 when the town’s primary employer, the Babine Forest Products sawmill, exploded and burned, killing and injuring workers.
Last month, the nearly 50 students at Gitwinksihlkw Elementary School collected more than $500 in coins to send to the relief effort in Burns Lake.
All together, the school has donated $941 to the Burns Lake Community Relief Fund.