Fundraising night to support youth sports and B.C. Winter Games legacy

PENTICTON – Come raise Penticton's game and leave a legacy for local youth sports witha fundraising event for the B.C. Winter Games.

Friends of the Games are hosting a fundraising night at Tugs Taphouse on Thursday, Nov. 26 at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 and include a burger, fries, beverage and entertainment. Tickets can bepurchased at Tug’s Taphouse, the Penticton Community Centre or the BC Winter Games office at Martin Street.

Mitch Lavigne, a local 17-year-old young comedian, will warm up the crowd with some standup.

Lavigne was a participant in the B.C. Talent Quest and was in the Princess Margaret Secondary School production of Footloose last year. Live auctioneer Tony Acland will engage
the crowd for a fun evening and participants will have the chance to bid to take home amazingitems like a flatscreen TV, a ski package in Revelstoke including accommodation, signed Edmonton Oilers jersey, dinner and salsa lessons from Vallarta Grill and many more.

“Young athletes train so hard to excel in their sport, and this Friends of the Games fundraising night is a great opportunity to support local athletes and sport organizations to achieve their full potential,” Bill Bidlake, President of the Penticton 2016 B.C. Winter Games, said. “The B.C. Winter Games will raise the bar for youth sport throughout the region, with a local legacy that can invest back into equipment, training, development and facility improvements relating to sport. These investments will serve the South Okanagan region for generations to come.”

Proceeds of the event will support the 2016 B.C. Winter Games in Penticton Feb. 25-28, 2016,  and the legacy left to the community after that will benefit youth sports. Several improvements have already been identified that would enhance local venues to accommodate higher levels of competition, supporting Penticton and region’s sport tourism strategies.

Past Games communities have raised significant funds for local legacies. The Nanaimo 2014 B.C.  Summer Games recently doled out $65,000 to community projects.

This will be the fourth time Penticton hosts the B.C. Games. The city was the host of the inaugural B.C. Summer Games in 1978, the 1990 B.C. Winter Games and the 1995 B.C. Summer Games.  Legacy money from previous games in Penticton have gone to such things as improvements to the Kettle Valley Railway Trail and sport and recreation complex upgrades.

Penticton has first-class sport facilities and a wealth of volunteer experience. The Penticton 2016 B.C. Winter Games will prove to be a memorable event for B.C.’s best developing athletes, coaches and officials from Feb. 25 to 28, 2016. For more information, visit www.bcgames.org.