I am the Bear Aware Community Coordinator for Kamloops. I am trying to plan a Bear Smart Community Contest during August here in Kamloops. The goal of this contest would be to get neighbourhoods in Kamloops to clean up bear attractants on their property, especially garbage!

Bear Aware is a program that is run in over 20 communities in BC. The goal of our program is to reduce bear-human conflicts by education, innovation, and cooperation. Kamloops is the first city in BC to receive the “Bear Smart” designation from the Ministry of Environment.

I need dedicated volunteers who would be willing to go out once a week, in the evening, and record how many houses in their neighbourhood are putting their garbage cans out the night before collection. It would only be for one month, meaning each volunteer would only go out 4 times.

If this is something you may be interested in, please contact me. There are other volunteer opportunities through the Bear Aware program as well, including school education/presentations, public booths, and notifying neighbourhoods of bears in their area.

You can reach me at:
Rishelle Klassen
bearaware(at)kamloops.ca
250-828-3379 or cell: 250-318-7318

Thank you for considering this community-changing opportunity!