Image Credit: BCLC

By Victor Kaisar

Y Start-Up Baskets

BCLC says 20 Kamloops families to benefit after recent partnership with Blazers

Feb 13, 2025 | 11:42 AM

KAMLOOPS — The BC Lottery Corporation says 20 Kamloops families will get a little extra help from the Y Women’s Emergency Shelter, thanks to a partnership it struck with the Kamloops Blazers this year.

Fans in attendance at the Feb. 8 Blazers game were encouraged to bring donations of household, toiletry and cleaning items to help fill start-up baskets for women and children who are supported by the Y Women’s Emergency Shelter.

“The Kamloops community showed up in a big way to help us to make a difference in the lives of those supported by the Y – a perfect example of our social purpose goal of creating win-wins for the greater good,” Ann Newman, BCLC’s Manager of Partnerships and Community Investment, said in a news release.

The Y Women’s Emergency Shelter says it responded to over 2,500 crisis calls and provided shelter to more than 310 women and 37 children in 2024. In a news release, it says these baskets will help women and children as they embark on a new chapter in their lives.

“We are filled with gratitude from the support shown by the Kamloops community who came together last weekend to provide a little extra help for women and children starting over,” said Jacquie Brand, manager of the Violence Against Women Intervention and Support Services at the Y Women’s Emergency Shelter.

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“The start-up baskets really make a big difference in the lives of those we support and we’re so appreciative of BCLC and the Kamloops Blazers for partnering together to raise awareness and bring in donations at Saturday’s game.”

While BCLC has been supporting the Y Women’s Emergency Shelter since 2021 through its employee-selected charities of choice program, it says it was able to extend its support by partnering with the Blazers this year.

“Saturday’s game was a true testament to the unwavering commitment Blazers’ fans have to our Kamloops community,” said Stacy Keen, sales account executive at the Kamloops Blazers. “We are so pleased to have partnered with BCLC to support the Y and the women and children it supports.”