Good morning,

As the colder months come, a group of volunteers in the Westshore have committed to flying to Ukraine to provide relief and equipment to help the citizens suffering from the ongoing war. With a lot of partnerships and moving pieces, the team is excited to announce they will be leaving later this fall to help out.

— Emma

NEWS

Volunteers in the Westshore heading to Ukraine

Volunteers from across the Westshore are preparing to fly to Ukraine this fall to help provide relief. On the morning of Sept. 25 at Colwood City Hall, it was announced that former Langford Fire Chief Bob Beckett along with retired RCMP Staff Sergeant Bruce Brown and CTV reporter Brendan Strain are flying to Ukraine late this fall. This is this the third deployment from this initiative to Ukraine. Colwood councillor Ian Ward, originally slated to deploy with the team, will be coordinating fundraising efforts in the Westshore leading up to departure.

“I've been doing humanitarian work throughout my career, and going back to 2022 when the city of Langford was doing some fundraising and set up a committee to help displaced Ukrainians coming to the Westshore, [someone] asked me if there was something that we could actually do in Ukraine,” says Beckett. “I found that we could partner with an organization called GlobalMedic and they were interested in working with us and matching some funds and in June of 2022, a group of volunteers and myself went to Ukraine and we oversaw the delivery of $400,000 worth of food supplies and meals for displaced Ukrainians.”

As a result of the team's original visit, they established connections with four small communities in Western Ukraine and made a commitment to continue to work with them; following through, Beckett and his team returned in February 2023 and again promised to make a visit with new supplies and necessities. With a number of goals, the team has been preparing for the trip with partnerships, donations, volunteer work, and more.

“This fall, we chose to focus on the delivery of medical equipment, but also school supplies and commit to two municipal projects which includes providing a school bus for one community and two diesel generators for another community,” says Beckett. “These generators will power up schools because they have quite an interruption of power on a regular basis and the school or the school bus will be used to move school children from areas where they have no bomb shelters to areas where schools are equipped to form shelters.”

As people across the globe continue to wonder when the fighting will end, Beckett says that it is vital to keep the spotlight on the subject.

“Conditions have gotten worse, we attended two funerals in February for fallen soldiers, one of our school district colleagues over there lost her brother recently—we've seen the impact and it's hard to imagine that we're coming up to 600 some days,” says Beckett.

The team is working on a few other initiatives along the way, and have been an important part in providing relief for Ukraine; looking to raise another $50,000 for additional supplies before they leave, Beckett and all of the partners involved are no strangers to hard work.

“I know that everyone that's gone on the trip can't help but to make the commitment to yourself, to the team, and to all Ukrainians that we're here for the long run, that even if the war was to stop, there will be a rebuilding period where they're going to need our help,” says Beckett. “This atrocity is a terrible thing and as a community, we have a sense of responsibility to look at Ukraine, as a global community that we need to work with.”

NEWS

Pacific FC makes it to the playoffs in third place

Pacific FC lost their chance to finish first, as well as their grip on second place after losing to Forge FC this past Saturday. Pacific scored just three minutes in on Saturday’s road match, but arch-rival Forge FC quickly answered and went on to win 3-1.

The team has been playing well this year, keeping a strong hold on first place in the Canadian Premier League standings until late August when they had a 2-0 loss against Forge FC. The team has fallen into third place and with only two games left, they can no longer catch Cavalry FC in first. In the unconventional new playoff format that the league has introduced, second place offers a direct path to the finals, while third must win two matchups to get there, and fourth must win three.

Regardless, the team will continue on to the playoffs for a chance to bring the trophy back to Langford. Pacific FC will face off against Vancouver FC in their final regular season game on Sept. 30 at Starlight Stadium, and are riling up for their Oct. 7 game at the ATCO arena in Calgary.

Pacific FC fighting for the title this year is an homage to their strength and growth after winning a championship in 2022 and then losing half of their roster the following season. With tremendous effort from the team, they will face off against Cavalry in their first match of the playoffs.

Around the 'Shore

🍂 Luxton fall fair brings fun to Langford: This weekend, the Langford fairgrounds were host to The Metchosin Farmers Institute and the Luxton Fair Committee’s fall fair. With a variety of rides, games, food, and artisans, the weekend was rainy but still full of smiling faces and happy attendees. [Vancouver Island Free Daily]

⛈️ Storms shake Vancouver Island with damage and warnings: Thousands across the Island were left without power after a fall storm caused outages across the area. With wind warnings in place as of Sept. 25, Greater Victorians and others will have to stay alert and aware of the upcoming storm season. [CTV News]

⚠️ RCMP arrest wanted person: West Shore RCMP warned the public to stay alert and contact them about Nicholas Banks, who is currently wanted for 10 outstanding warrants. Banks turned himself into the Western Communities Court House in Colwood and was arrested by BC Sheriffs.

SPONSORED BY INTERTIDAL WELLNESS

Work with a Westshore counsellor

There are many reasons to live in the Westshore - easy living, fresh air and bountiful nature. People here have taken care to find the best environment for themselves. At Intertidal Counselling & Wellness they are passionate about helping locals with their inner environment, to help make their bodies and minds places they want to live.

Community Events

🌲 Old growth art exhibit: Join the community from 4 to 8pm on Sept. 28 in support of old growth with an art exhibit at the Metchosin School on Happy Valley Road; with a special 5:30pm performance when most of the live music and action will be happening, the event is part of a province-wide Day of Action for Old Growth Forests, and will showcase a variety of mediums of “protest art” focused on old growth forests.

🎨 Royal Bay art exhibit: To celebrate the opening of Royal Bay’s new retail village, The Commons, the city is transforming the space in the corner of Latoria Boulevard and Ryder Hesjedal Way into an art exhibition from Sept. 29 to Nov. 4. With a variety of opening times each day, the exhibit, The Sum of Our parts, will showcase Samantha Dickie, Laura Dutton, and Roberta Pyx Sutherland’s artworks that reflect on the idea of many different parts coming together and forming something greater.

🍻 Millstream Brewery Tour: Calling all singles. Millstream Brewery is hosting an all-ages singles meetup event on Sept. 30. With a tour of the brewery, pizza for dinner, options for tasters, and fun lawn games where you will have a chance to win prizes, tickets are being sold online for the 3-5pm event.

What’s Offshore?

The Diane Oldendorff is a bulk carrier built in 2020 and is sailing under the flag of Liberia. It is sailing from Fangcheng, China 🇨🇳 ➡ Vancouver 🇨🇦 and was scheduled to arrive Sept. 24.

Westshore Snaps

Sept. 23, the first moon of fall. —Glenys Pumfrey, Colwood

That’s it!

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