The Okanagan Boys and Girls Clubs is kicking off the 3rd Annual Pink Shirt Day with a breakfast presented by TELUS at the Laurel Packinghouse on February 22nd.
The breakfast is being hosted to celebrate Pink Shirt Day and help raise awareness about the detrimental impacts of bullying as well as promote the creation of a kinder community.
All Kelowna residents are welcome and encouraged to attend.
The event will feature speeches from prominent figures from the community, including Mayor Colin Basran, the CEO of the Okanagan Boys and Girls Clubs Diane Entwistle and Dr. John-Tyler Binfet, a UBC Okanagan professor and renowned researcher on kindness in children.
The breakfast will also provide an opportunity for businesses, service clubs, schools, and individuals to come together for an important cause.
According to Diane Entwistle, Pink Shirt Day is necessary because simply recognizing the negative impacts of bullying isn’t enough.
“What is the solution to bullying? It’s simple: Kindness,” said Entwistle. “Okanagan Boys and Girls Clubs teach kids positive values to improve their relationships every day. It is not enough to say that bullying is bad and to stop dialogue there. Pink Shirt Day is a good reminder of the principle of treating others as one would wish to be treated.”
Pink Shirt Day was formally established after two Nova Scotia teenagers decided to take a stand after they saw a boy being bullied for wearing a pink shirt to school. The two teens purchased 50 pink tank tops and got their peers to wear them to school the following day. The bullied boy felt supported by this action. Since that day, Pink Shirt Day has grown to become a nationwide initiative.
This year the breakfast will be presented by TELUS and in-kind sponsorship from Sysco Kelowna; Okanagan College Culinary Arts Department, McDonald's, David’s Tea, Glitz N Glam and Kaleena Cakes.
Those interested in purchasing tickets to the Pink Shirt Day Breakfast can find them here under the events tab.
If you get value from KelownaNow and believe local independent media is important to our community we ask that you please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter.
If you appreciate what we do, we ask that you consider supporting our local independent news platform.
