InFocus Magazine

 

A mother’s instinct is a powerful thing.  Fourteen years ago, when Deb Nolan brought her newborn son, Josh, home from the hospital she knew something wasn’t right.  She had mentioned her concerns before they left the hospital, but she was told that all was well—she could bring her son home.  However, Nolan was right about her baby boy.  Her instincts were correct, and it wasn’t long before it was clear to all that there was a problem with baby Josh’s heart.  Within minutes of Josh’s diagnosis, mom and baby were on their way to BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver.

When a child is seriously ill it becomes the number one priority in a parent’s life to do what’s necessary for the child.  It’s an incredibly stressful time, especially because the rest of a parent’s responsibilities still remain.  There are still bills to pay, there are still bosses who expect to see you, and oftentimes there are other children who need their parents too.  This difficult reality is what Nolan encountered when she took that helicopter ride to Vancouver.  She had three other children at home.  How would she care for them when she was in Vancouver with Josh?

Nolan’s sister, Anita Brassard, lived in Ontario at the time of Josh’s illness and remembers receiving the call telling her about her nephew’s condition.  Though much of the phone call is a blur, Brassard remembers the words that struck shear disbelief in her mind:  ‘Baby Josh has a broken heart.’  Brassard also remembers hearing the pain in her sister’s voice, and knowing she couldn’t do anything practical to help.

Brassard also recalls how her anxiety was much relieved when her sister told her of an envelope she was given before she left for Vancouver.  Nolan didn’t open it right away, but when things quieted down she opened it to find $100 cash and a note that read:

Please accept this money as a gift from YANA (You Are Not Alone).

As you start the medical journey with your child this small amount of money might come in handy.  

Please contact us once you have arrived at your child’s treatment location.  YANA provides funding and accommodation for children and their families when they need to leave the Comox Valley for medical treatment.  We would like to chat with you about how we can help your family. 

Please know that you are not alone.

“When I was told about YANA I realized that there were people in the Comox Valley who were helping my sister,” says Brassard.  “I remember Deb saying the words, ‘Thank God for YANA’.   It was a relief for my sister to receive that help, and I experienced that relief firsthand.  I knew that YANA was making all the difference for my sister and Josh.”

Josh had an eventful first year and traveled to Vancouver several times for subsequent surgeries.  However, because of the efforts of the medical staff who took care of him, his loving family, and the folks at YANA, today he is a normal 10-year-old boy who wrestles with important questions like what he wants to be when he grows up.

A couple years after Josh’s illness, Brassard moved to the Comox Valley.  One day she read an article in the paper saying that the YANA Board of Directors was seriously considering dissolving the organization.  She had not forgotten how YANA had helped her sister and nephew, so she was horrified at the prospect of the organization ceasing to exist.  Brassard decided to attend the next meeting to see if there was something she could do.

She wasn’t the only one who felt that YANA needed to continue—many local residents attended that meeting and rallied to save the organization.  That night a new Board was created and Brassard decided to sit on the Board as a volunteer.

Though YANA has always functioned through the efforts of volunteers, it was eventually clear to Brassard and the rest of the Board that the organization needed more permanency to move into the future.  “When I joined the YANA Board as a volunteer in 2005 we were meeting the needs of YANA families out of our homes,” she remembers.  “The Board acknowledged that a sustainable future for YANA included creating a foundation to support our efforts and to honor the rich history from which YANA was born.  The YANA office opened in October, 2008 and I became the part-time Executive Director.”

YANA has been around for almost 27 years.  The seeds for YANA were sown when Sandra Williams’ youngest child, Roberta, suddenly became very ill.  Mother and child were rushed to Vancouver where Roberta was diagnosed with congenital heart failure.  Williams and Roberta stayed in Vancouver while dad stayed in the Comox Valley to take care of the rest of the family and to continue working.  Since Roberta’s illness required long term care, the bills added up and placed an enormous financial strain on the family.  During their ordeal, the Williams family met many other families from all over the province who were experiencing the same difficulties.  Sandra decided that something had to be done to ease the burden of Comox Valley families needing to travel for their children’s care.  From the beginning it was crucial to YANA that the children be allowed to heal and be cared for with a family member at their side.

Amazingly, YANA is the only charity of its kind in all of British Columbia.  “There are a few fledgling organizations that do similar things to YANA,” says Brassard, “but there is no organization that comes close to what YANA does for residents of the Comox Valley.”

Specifically, YANA serves families of School District 71 with children under the age of 19 who are receiving treatment unavailable here in the Valley.

Most parents learn of YANA when they receive the envelope from the nursing staff at St. Joseph’s Hospital just before they leave with their child for Vancouver or elsewhere.  Brassard says that money can be a huge help for parents in such a tough situation.  “Sometimes parents rush to Vancouver with nothing but what they’re wearing—and sometimes that’s a robe and slippers.”

Besides the envelope there is also a monthly stipend that is available for parents to ease their burden.  Having a sick child who is being treated elsewhere can be very expensive, especially if it’s a long term illness.  The monthly stipend is given to the families to use at their discretion.  “We don’t ask the families for receipts or anything like that,” Brassard says.  “That would just add to their burden, and YANA is all about lightening that load.”

YANA also rents four completely furnished apartments that are located close to Children’s Hospital.  These units are for families to use as long as they need—totally free of charge.  This alone can make all the difference to families needing to travel to Vancouver for a child’s care.  Now Comox Valley families can have a home away from home, where they can focus on supporting their child instead of worrying about accommodation.

“YANA believes that a child heals best when supported by the love and care of their family,” Brassard says.  “It can be a financial burden for a family to maintain a home in their own community and also juggle the expense of setting up a home in a larger city centre for the duration of their child’s treatment.”

Everything YANA does is toward the goal of making an incredibly difficult time less so for Comox Valley parents.  “YANA’s goal is to remove some of the logistical and financial burdens so a family can focus their head and hearts on what is most important—caring for their child.”

Since their conception YANA has helped more than 1,000 local families.  YANA estimates that in recent years they have helped approximately 250 families yearly.  That’s a lot of families and children who have been personally helped by YANA.  “The pictures of the children on our website and on our office walls aren’t taken from stock photos from the internet, they’re real children that have been helped by YANA,” says Brassard.  “They are our friends, our family, our neighbors—the kids we see at the grocery store and the library.  Families right here in our own backyard.”

To do these amazing things YANA must do a lot of fundraising.  Every year they create a budget based on their highest funding month, and they go from there.  Normally YANA sets a goal to raise $250,000 annually.  Their main fundraising activity is a dinner and auction held in February.  They also rely heavily on community donations and third party fundraisers.

Another anticipated fundraising event is the YANA Christmas Crackers campaign.  The YANA crackers have been a part of many Comox Valley holiday dinners for many years.  Sue Bowie, the current director of the Christmas Cracker campaign, remembers when the program began. “Initially the crackers were made in the former president’s home,” Bowie explains.  “Friends would come over and help make them.”  From that humble beginning the activity has grown to where they now make 5,000 crackers and raise almost $7,000 from their efforts.

YANA opens its office to anyone who would like to help put the Christmas Crackers together—and it’s quite a process.   There are tubes, crackers, toys, hats, and prizes that need to go inside, and then they all need to be wrapped and decorated.   But despite the job, residents of the Comox Valley flock to the office to help.  “It’s really a lot of fun,” says Bowie.  “People feel good about what they’re doing and so it’s a very positive atmosphere around the table.”

The crackers are popular in the Valley and often sell out long before Christmas.  One reason for their popularity is the prizes.  The crackers contain prizes donated by Quality Foods, and there are lottery tickets too.  But the prize everyone hopes for is the diamond ring voucher that is always hidden in one of the crackers.

Every year Mark Dalziel—aka Mark the Gold Guy—of Comox Valley Pawnbrokers, donates a diamond ring to YANA’s Christmas Cracker event.  Dalziel has been a part of YANA since the very beginning—he knows firsthand what prompted the Williams family to create YANA.

“I used to babysit Roberta when she’d come home from her hospital stays,” she says.  “Really, I saw the whole thing.  I saw how difficult it was for them to juggle everything—it was a very hard time for them.”   As a result, Dalziel has always been happy to support YANA.  “It’s a really neat program.  It feels good to support something that is so local.”

Aside from the annual dinner and the Christmas Cracker campaign, the remainder of the money raised by YANA comes from community donations and third party fundraisers.   Every year there are individuals and organizations who work to support YANA in a variety of ways.  One such individual is Ryan Parton of Ryan Parton Writing Solutions.

Parton, a resident of the Comox Valley for almost 10 years, has known about YANA for as long as he’s been here.  “YANA has always been in the back of my mind, especially now that I have kids of my own,” Parton says.  “I really believe in what they are doing at YANA.”

When the opportunity presented itself to raise money for YANA, Parton jumped at the chance.  It all started when he created what he calls a “ridiculous rap video” where he raps about what it’s like to be a copywriter in the Comox Valley.  The tongue in cheek video—the clean cut Parton is a far cry from the gangster rapper he embodies—was created as a fun way to present his line of work to the Comox Valley Business Network, a group he meets with on a monthly basis.

Needless to say, the video was a lot of fun and his colleagues encouraged Parton to put his video on YouTube.  Though Parton initially responded that the video would never leave the room, he eventually decided to give his colleagues a challenge—raise $1,000 for YANA and he’d put the video on the internet.  Parton was surprised when, by the end of the day, his colleagues placed $160 on his desk.  Within a month $1,000 was raised for YANA, and he had no choice but to air his video.

Though Parton says he’s received good feedback from the video, it’s nonetheless been described by viewers as “utterly embarrassing,” “undeniable proof that he’s a white boy from rural Manitoba” and somewhere between “the worst thing ever and the best thing ever.”

His rap video went on YouTube on October 18, but Parton knew he could do more.  He approached local businesses and asked them to pledge 10 cents per view to YANA if the video reached 1,000 views.   “I’ve been amazed at the response,” he says.  “Honestly, I was hesitant to put the video on the internet, but I’ve had nothing but support from people.  People really respect the fact that I’ve done this.”  Currently, the video is at just under 900 views.  To support YANA simply by watching the video, visit www.BCcopywriter.com or search for “Rappin’ Ryan Parton” on Facebook.

Through the efforts of all those at YANA, volunteers like Bowie, and individuals like Parton and Dalziel, children like baby Josh can get the care they need with their parents at their side.

“When people give money or their time to support YANA it’s less like charity and more like an insurance policy,” says Brassard.  “Though it’s hard to imagine, if we ever find ourselves in such a position, it’s nice to know that YANA would be there to help.”

For more information visit: www.yanacomoxvalley.com

YANA’s Christmas Crackers are $2.50 each and are sold at all local Credit Unions, Otter’s Kitchen Cove, Harbourview Dental, Comox Community Centre, Mosaic Vision, Beyond the Kitchen Door, Driftwood Mall, Blush Salon, Seeds Natural Food Market, and the YANA office at 495 Fitzgerald Avenue in Courtenay

In the deep sub-tidal waters of Baynes Sound, there is a small army working quietly and efficiently to do their part to keep the ocean clean.  They are relentless in their commitment to the environment.   They ‘git ‘er dun!’ without ever standing outside City Hall waving placards or signing petitions.

Scientists refer to the individuals in this underwater army as Parastichopus californicus… but they are more commonly known as ‘sea cucumbers’ or—to be even more specific—Giant Red Sea Cucumbers.

Despite the fact that they are named after something you would put on a salad, sea cucumbers are, in fact, a species of animal, not a plant.  They are ‘echinoderms’—marine animals that have an endoskeleton just below the skin that is made up of microscopic bone-like tissue.  There are five classes of echinoderms, including sea stars (starfish), brittle stars, sea urchins and sand dollars, sea lilies and sea cucumbers.

The Giant Red Sea ‘Cuc’ has a leathery soft skin that is red to dark brown with orange-colored fleshy pointed projections on the dorsal (top) side.  Unlike others in their class, they are shaped like cucumbers, not stars.  They are a relatively primitive organism without eyes or brains.  They have a mouth and 15 filter feeding ‘arms’ at one end and an anus at the other.  In between the entrance and the exit points are dozens of hydraulically-powered tube feet that assist with locomotion. The sea cucs’ sole purpose in life:  eat, poop, grow, reproduce, then repeat, repeat, repeat.

Another fascinating fact that you should know: to protect itself when confronted with extreme danger—such as a predatory sea star, a hungry otter or a sea lion—the sea cucumber will eject its internal organs out of its anus, distracting predators with the sticky viscera.  Then they use their five long muscle bands to wriggle and writhe to try to escape.  This amazing animal then reabsorbs the organs during its winter dormant stage and regenerates them.

Today, as it has for millennia, this bottom dwelling detritivore—that is an animal that eats dead things—plays an important ecological role in (quite literally) the very bottom of the ocean food chain.  Sea cucumbers consume massive amounts of organic matter such as fungi, plankton and other decomposing material that sinks to the ocean floor and, through their digestion, they ‘recycle’ and return it back into the food chain—like earthworms in your compost bin, but for the ocean.  They convert anaerobic matter into useful nutrients that are then recycled by many other aquatic animals.

With full-grown adults reaching about 50-centimetres in length, the Red Giants are the largest of about 30 indigenous species of sea cucumbers in British Columbia’s coastal waters and they are the only ones that are commercially harvested.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has issued 85 Individual Quota (IQ) sea cucumber fisheries licences.  The annual fishery is from October 1 through November 30 and it is conducted with scuba divers hand picking the plumpest of this ocean delicacy.  From 2003 to 2010, the average annual harvest was 1.2 million pounds.  In recent years, the price-per-pound paid to fisherman was as high as $6, the majority of which is exported to Asia.  Records show, however, that wild fisheries harvested at this rate are not sustainable over the long term and wild populations are decreasing in numbers.

“Seafood production is a significant sector to BC’s economy, with $1.4 billion worth produced and $960 million worth exported to 74 countries in 2010.  Locally, the shellfish sector alone is valued at over $28 million annually and produces more than half of all BC’s shellfish,” says John Watson, executive director of Comox Valley Economic Development.  “It’s a critical component to our food and beverage economy, with demonstrated opportunities for expansion to meet a growing demand for this type of product.”

While not common on Canadian dinner plates, research indicates that sea cucumbers as a food source have anti-cancer, anti-viral, and anti-gingivitis properties, and that they are higher in protein than most foods.  As such, they are highly valued in Asian cooking and for Traditional Chinese Medicine. Markets are primarily Southeast Asia, China, Hong Kong, and Korea.  Market demand and value is for both the skin and the five muscle tissue strips.

While China does have a thriving sea cucumber farming industry, those imported from BC are prized for their high quality, for exactly the same reasons that BC oysters are coveted by oyster aficionados around the world—the excellent growing conditions of our cool, clean waters.

While sea cucumber harvesting has been a viable industry in BC since the early 1980s, it is only in the last couple of years that most Vancouver Islanders even knew (or cared) that sea cucumbers even existed here.  Seemingly overnight, sea cucumbers have become almost as hotly debated as the proposed coal mine.  Why?  Because a couple of local businesses have proposed to start ‘farming’ sea cucumbers and there is a segment of the population that is vehemently opposed to any form of aquaculture expansion in Baynes Sound.

In addition to a couple of grassroots groups expressing their concerns, the Comox Valley Echo reported that several commercial fishing organizations—the Herring Industry Association Board, the BC Seafood Alliance, and the Underwater Harvesters Association—have all expressed a cautionary approach to the proposed sea cucumber operations to the Ministry of Forestry, Lands and Natural Resource Operations. All three organizations named the size of the proposed farms, combined with unknown environmental impacts, as top concerns.

At the same time, other organizations are heralding the idea.

“The BC Shellfish Grower’s Association supports any farming of seafood that is ecologically sustainable,” explains the association’s executive director, Roberta Stevenson.  “When it comes to the proposed sea cucumber project, we feel that it is very environmentally sound.  Sea cucumbers are a good quality protein source that is produced in a small amount of space, while cleaning the ocean floor.”

Stevenson doesn’t discount the fact that some groups and other industry stakeholders have good reason to be concerned about ecological health of the ocean, but she has a different point of view.

“We have huge problems with oceans world-wide, but farming sea cucumbers is not one of them,” warns Stevenson.  “Ocean acidification is a threat of a magnitude that we have never experienced before and I am disappointed that people are being distracted by issues like sea cucumbers when there are bigger issues at stake.  If the proverbial sky is falling, it is not because of sea cucumbers!  It is because the chemical make-up of our oceans is changing… and we need to do something to change that.  I hate to see this [fear mongering] take away from the bigger picture.  These sea cucumbers are an indigenous species that has been quite over-fished and they will be farmed in a sustainable manner. People visualize that the sea cucumbers will be down there in massive amounts.  In reality, the density is always dictated by a healthy environment—they won’t compete for space.”

As a writer, I have a vivid imagination and I started to envision huge underwater ‘corrals’ of sea cucumbers, like cattle feedlots, and I was aghast at the very thought.  That said, before I form an opinion I research the facts—rather than educate myself by reading the Letters to the Editor in the local papers.  So I contacted Dan Bowen, president of Courtenay-based Green Ocean Sea Cucumbers, for a frank discussion on sea cucumber ‘farming.’

“Our company is one of two that have applied to the Ministry for two [separate] large tenures of ‘on the bottom’ sea cucumber aquaculture,” explains Bowen.  “I speak only for the Baynes Sound North application.  Our Adaptive Management Plan (ADP) took over two years to complete and our biologist, Lora Tryon has created a science-based approach to the introduction of this new and innovative aquaculture industry on tenure.

“Our goal is to conduct a research and development project to look at the social, environmental and economic feasibility of sea cucumber aquaculture.  The application was accepted as ‘complete and satisfactory’ in October 2011.  The approval process now involves both the federal and provincial governing agencies for the licence and the tenure.  This process will be moving into the new year with formal presentations to these agencies.

“The Green Ocean concept to aquaculture as established by our team is based on sound environmental principles including aquatic enhancement,” says Bowen.  “We are proposing extensive aquaculture, rather than intensive aquaculture, and that allows the natural substrate environment to determine the natural population densities of sea cucumbers. With this method, there is no need for any kind of closed containment apparatus, such as pens, cages, or rafts, nor is there any need for supplemental feeding or foreshore activity or access.

“Sea cucumber habitat includes several native kelp species and we will enhance the nursery areas to create an oasis of green. Furthermore, the aquaculture area we are considering is situated in the sub-tidal zone well below the zero tide level. As such, there are no conflicts with any other tenures… be it recreational, environmental or commercial activities.”

Bowen clarifies that the sea cucumber juveniles they propose to out-plant are the very same species that are indigenous to these waters. Green Ocean must obtain a permit to collect and transfer healthy breeding stock in the winter or spring, and there must be a DFO observer on board to document the area and the number of brood stock taken.  Divers carefully hand pick adult cucumbers and transfer them to the Gartley Point Hatchery in Royston where they are encouraged to spawn.  When the spawn is complete, the adults are released back into the ocean.  Fertilized eggs would then be incubated as they develop into larvae. After about 70 days suspended in the water like plankton, they settle on the bottom as miniature juvenile sea cucumbers.

It takes about four months for the hatchlings to grow to a size that will ensure their survival at sea.  To initially protect them from predators, the baby sea cucumbers are placed in a specially designed space in the centre of a pyramid-shaped bag of oyster shells (held together by netting).  These nursery ‘pods’ would then be strategically placed on the ocean floor.  In addition to providing a refuge for baby sea cucs, these oyster reef pods quickly become home to algae, fungus and other natural microscopic organisms that become the food for sea cucumbers.  In the first year, the young sea cucs will remain close to this refuge area before they begin to venture out from the nursery to begin their free-range period.  Rest assured they don’t go too far—they only meander about three to four metres distance in random directions in a single day.  It then takes about 24 to 36 months for them to grow to a size suitable for harvest.

Referring to concerns about over population, Bowen explains that, just as a cattle farmer would not expect a good result if he (or she) put too many cows on a single pasture, aquaculturalists know it would not make good economic or ecological sense to ‘plant’ excessive populations of sea cucumbers in Baynes Sound.  Not only will the sea cucumber stock be well managed and monitored, as part of the management plan, research will be undertaken and shared with other aquaculturists, the DFO, and educational institutions.

The company is working closely with research institutions to further develop and promote the science-base needed to create both a strong industry and sound ecology.

“We are pleased to receive conditional support from the Comox Valley Project Watershed and the Comox Valley Conservation Strategy Group, based on our scientific approach and research strategy,’ adds Bowen.

Two rumors that Bowen would like to see laid to rest:

Baynes Sound will not become filled with toxic sea cucumber feces.  Quantity in equals quantity out, with the only difference being that the excrement is a nutrient-rich material that the millions of microorganisms can eat. Truth is, sea cucs are as beneficial to the ocean as earthworms are to your garden and they serve an important role in the “marine food web” in Baynes Sound.

Sea cucumbers will not become a plague and they will not crawl onto land, like slugs, to eat your lettuce!

Bowen wraps up by explaining that within the proposed 155-hectare tenure, only one per cent of the area will be used for the on-bottom nurseries—the rest will remain untouched to allow for the natural movement of the sea cucumbers as they mature.  All research, planting, maintenance and harvest would be done with boats and divers.  This type of aquaculture is considered very low impact and is called a ‘green zone’ because it is like a garden.

Eric Gant, president of Mantee Holdings Ltd. and a partner in Green Ocean Sea Cucumbers, stands firmly behind the company’s commitment to environmental responsible aquaculture.  He has decades of experience, considering that he helped to pioneer the sea cucumber and geoduck (a type of clam) fisheries industry in BC.  He was the founding president of the Pacific Sea Cucumber Harvesting Association (www.pscha.org) and a founding director of the Underwater Harvesters Association (www.geoduck.org).

“When I first helped to pioneer these fisheries, the natural geoduck concentrations in the Baynes Sound area were 10 times higher than they are now,” says Gant.  “Today, natural stocks are diminished, due to human activities and because they are being over harvested.  We need to embrace aquaculture to bring the ecosystem back into balance.

“Sea cucumbers (and geoducks) are especially beneficial to the ocean’s ecology in modern-day society because there is a huge nutrient run-off resulting from human occupation along the shorelines.  This run-off causes excessive amounts of algae to grow in the water, upsetting the natural ecology.  These animals help bring down the concentration algae in the water.

“It is ironic,” Gant adds, that in some cases, “it is the people who are contributing and causing the pollution who are against us planting these beneficial animals.  We want to put back a healthy concentration to maintain a healthy ocean in a free range, natural environment.  Based on both experience and science, I have no doubt that this form of aquaculture is the most environmentally beneficial food production operation—on land or sea—that I am aware of in the world.”

For more information visit: www.greenoceanseacucumbers.com.