Trevor Linden Community Spirit Scholarship Awarded to Four Students

Vancouver, BC- The Canucks for Kids Fund (CFKF) is proud to award the Trevor Linden Community Spirit Scholarship to four outstanding secondary school graduates from across British Columbia. The scholarship, consisting of $2,500, is awarded to students who have demonstrated exceptional leadership through a commitment to affecting positive change in their communities through various initiatives. Since the scholarship was first introduced in 2008, the Trevor Linden Community Spirit Scholarship program has awarded $110,000 to 44 graduating students throughout British Columbia.

Please join us in congratulating the four 2020 Trevor Linden Community Spirit Scholarship Recipients:

Romina Mahinpei is a graduating student from Carson Graham Secondary in North Vancouver. She has a lengthy and robust volunteer history with several local organizations including the North Vancouver City Library, SFU Summer Camps, Salvation Army, North Vancouver Recreation and the Big Brothers Mentoring Program. Most notably, Romina is a champion for both kids and females in a variety STEM programs. She founded the Girl Coders Club and the Math Club at Carson Graham while also organizing other STEM programs including 'Lunch with a Scientist' and a presentation by UBC's Young Women for STEM for her female classmates to learn more about careers in STEM. Romina has also taken her passion for STEM outside of school. She has organized a city-wide STEM conference for 60 female students in grade 10-12 on the North Shore as well as a Teen Nerd Nite in which over 70 attendees from grades 8-12 learned about the applications of STEAM through presentation and interactive activities. It is always Romina's goal to offer her programs and events free of charge in order eliminate financial barriers for passionate students. In addition to her passion for STEM, she is also on the BC Lieutenant Governor's Youth Advisory Council. In September Romina will be attending the University of British Columbia's Science One program with a focus on Computer Science and Math.

Lucas Hung is a graduating student from Gleneagle Secondary in Coquitlam. As part of a project with the BC Heritage Fairs Society, Lucas recently spent several hours interviewing W̱SÁNEĆ First Nation elders. Through this experience Lucas realized how much more he and his classmates could learn from the Indigenous culture and their rich fabric of life. Unhappy with how under-represented Indigenous issues were at his school, Lucas took it upon himself to increase the dialogue and recognition in order to empower Gleaneagle's Indigenous students and bring attention to the lack of awareness in public education. He accomplished this by successfully advocating for a traditional land acknowledgement during daily public address announcements as well as organizing his school's first Orange Shirt Day. These two accomplishments sparked discussions through the entire school about reconciliation and were also acknowledged as a school district board meeting. In addition to being an important advocate for the Indigenous community, Lucas also is Co-Chair of the Gleneagle Me To We Team and is an avid musician. Since social distancing protocols took place in March, he and his friends launched an online platform to stream musical concerts of themselves and fellow school musicians. Lucas is using this latest project to raise awareness and funds for the Downtown Eastside. To date they have raised $3,810 for two charities who are working to offset the impacts of COVID-19 in the neighborhood. In September Lucas will be attending the University of Victoria to pursue a Bachelors in Music.

Jun Choi is a graduating student from Byrne Creek Secondary in Burnaby. Byrne Creek is located in the low-income area of Edmonds, a community that includes a considerably high number of refugee and low income families. Jun's household is no different which prompted him to start working nearly full time since the age of 14 to support his family's basic needs. As President of the Student Government at Byrne Creek, Jun organizes and leads meetings and school-wide events, pushing his fellow students out of their comfort zones to achieve the greater good. He recently led a school-wide Hamper Drive that raised a record-breaking $15,000 value in essential groceries and goods for financially vulnerable families in his community. As President of Edmonds Engineered, Jun led and managed a STEM camp for elementary students in hopes to inspire youth in his low income community about activities and careers in STEM. He is also an Executive Member of the Leo Club, Event Coordinator for the Byrne Creek Grad Council and a Member of the Event Leadership Team. Additionally, Jun is also a skilled and dedicated athlete as Captain of the Varsity Volleyball team (recently named MVP) and Head Coach of the Junior Boys & Girls Volleyballs teams at Byrne Creek. Despite all this, Jun is an incredibly accomplished AP student. In September Jun will be attending the University of Toronto to study Life Sciences.

Jessica Soule is a graduating student from Glenlyon Norfolk School in Victoria. She has a passion for community service in the area of mental health and harm reduction. Having health challenges herself, and after experiencing a close family friend take her own life, Jessica was inspired to give back to Foundry BC and be a strong advocate for youth facing mental health challenges. In 2018 Jessica started her own organization called "This is: Harm Reduction" with the goal of training peers on how to use a naloxone kit to save lives and on how harm reduction mechanisms can be used in everyday life. She has connected with 400 people through these workshops. Foundry BC selected Jessica to be both on their Provincial Youth Action Council and work to select eight new Foundry centres. During this process, she interviewed community representatives and facilitated workshops. This experience allowed her to see how these new centres would change and save lives across British Columbia. Jessica has also created two toolkits: "How to advocate for mental health in your community" and "How to plan a harm reduction or mental health event." In September Jessica will be attending the University if British Columbia to pursue a Dual Degree in Science Po Dual Degree which is rooted in economics, law, history, sociology and political science. She will pursue a major in International Relations and minor in Public Health