Avery Palmer envisions an Arrow Lakes community where families and individuals in need of big-city medical help can afford to travel to get it.
Palmer is making it happen with the formation of the Arrow Lakes Medical Aid Society.
Pretty good for a 16-year-old.
“There are families that have to travel to Vancouver or Kelowna or other places for medical aid,” she said.
Sunday’s Mothers Day Run in Nakusp will benefit the fledgling organization along with other charitable concerns. It’s a good cause, Palmer said.
“We live in such a rural place and other rural communities have stuff like this. We were talking to the ladies in Kaslo, and they have a Helping Hands Trust – I was thinking we don’t have something like that here, and we should.”
Palmer enlisted the help of her mother and other community members to get the ball rolling.
“It’s just something I thought we should have in this community.”
The newly-formed organization has been given its non-profit society status as required for fundraising.
Avery Palmer knows something about traveling for medical care. She has a condition known as superventricular tachycardia, and has gone for treatment to B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. While her family had the resources to pay for that travel, Palmer said she knows others aren’t so fortunate.
“Not everybody has the funds we do, and some people have to go there for longer periods of time or more than once a year,” she said.
The daughter of Ron and Rhonda Palmer, Avery is active in sports like soccer, basketball, golf and volleyball. Currently an 11th grader in Nakusp, she said she is considering a college career in the sciences – possibly medicine.
She’s hoping area residents of all ages and walks – or runs – of life will come to Sunday’s Mother’s Day 5k Run to support local charity like the Arrow Lakes Medical Aid Society.
“We wanted the word to get out there before the run so people had an idea of what part of it was going towards,” she said, adding that she hopes more students will get involved, become part of the committee and learn how organizations like the Medical Aid Society work and how they benefit the community.
The current roster of board members includes Heather Dennill, Patti Lea, Frances Swan, Avery Palmer, Rhonda Palmer and Kari Tithecott
The Mother’s Day Run is set for Sunday, May 8 at the Gazebo. Registration is at 9 a.m. and the 5K run, a 2K walk and a kids’ run begin at 9:30 a.m. There will be a silent auction, hot dogs and a bake sale as well.