Kilometres for Kids: A five-kilometre family walk, Saturday, May 5 at the Ambleside Youth Centre, 1018 Marine Dr., West Vancouver, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Cost: $15 person/$25 for two people. Proceeds to B.C. Children's Hospital Foundation.
WHEN it comes to inspiring North Shore youth to take action, one local teen is unstoppable.
For the last three years, Julia Tikhonova, a Grade 11 student at Collingwood School, has rallied her peers to unite and raise funds and awareness for one cause after another.
This year, she's focused on families and is presenting Kilometres for Kids, a five-kilometre family walk starting at the Ambleside Youth Centre in West Vancouver on Saturday, May 5, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Funds raised from the event will support the dermatology and otolaryngology divisions of the B.C. Children's Hospital Foundation.
The main aim of the walk is to bring families together. "The family bond is really important to me," says Tikhonova, 16. "It's really nice to see families come together in the community to raise funds for these really important issues for the next generation."
The walk, which will be followed by a barbecue, is being held during B.C. Youth Week.
In 2011, Tikhonova organized a similar event, entitled the Be Real Walk, in support of North Vancouver's Be Real Eating Disorders Clinic, which offers community-based assessment and ongoing treatment for youth with disordered eating and eating disorders. The event raised more than $4,000. In 2010, Tikhonova organized a 10-km fundraising run in her former home community, Port Coquitlam, entitled the Fathers' Run. Held in honour of her grandfather who succumbed to prostate cancer, the event raised more than $3,000 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation B.C.
"I think that we have a lot of opportunities, especially youth, we have so many opportunities to do amazing things, and it's important to give back," says Tikhonova. "I feel like I become a better person as I do it, I mature and I become stronger and more confident. . . . And people enjoy it too, which is great. It's very rewarding."
Tikhonova is grateful for the strong level of support she receives for her efforts, from sponsors to local youth, and of course her own family.
"They're just always there, they're fantastic," she says.
