A Vernon student has picked up a second-place award in the recent Decorate My Head contest sponsored by BrainTrust Canada.
Grade 11 Kalamalka secondary student Elly Lee came up with a creative design for a bicycle helmet that earned her second place in the contest, which combines the importance of brain injury prevention with art.
The contest offered Okanagan youth ages 13 to 17 a creative outlet for their talent.Supported by TELUS Thompson Okanagan Community Board, the online contest invited youth to submit a custom design for a bike helmet through BrainTrust Canada’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/braintrustcanada.com.
“Youth are the highest risk for brain injury,” said Magda Kapp, director of communications for BrainTrust Canada. “Our not-for-profit association has to be innovative with projects that cut through the clutter to reach this age group and spread out the message of brain injury prevention.
“The Decorate My Head contest allows us to work with the art community in the Okanagan as a creative way to get our message across.”
Brain injury is the leading cause of death and disability under 44, with an estimated 22,000 new brain injuries annually. Up to 90 per cent of brain injuries are preventable through behavior changes such as wearing helmets.
First place went to Kendel Akume, while third place was taken by Alyx Wilk, both of Kelowna. The top three winners received a custom helmet with their own design shrink-wrapped on the helmet, art supplies from OPUS, and the Kelowna Art Gallery and Teen Series art classes; first place winner also receives a private art session with watercolour artist Alex Fong.
Other sponsors include Nutcase Helmets, the Rotary Centre for the Arts and Vernon Public Art Gallery, where the public showings of the top 20 pieces of artwork from both cities were shown earlier this month, and Signcraft, which is printing the custom shrink wrapping for helmets for the top three winners. BlueBird Business Consulting is responsible for all social media for the contest, and DB Design produced the logo design and poster for the program.
Participants were encouraged to have friends and family vote for their designs to reduce the entries to the top 40, after which the top three were selected by a judging panel.
BrainTrust Canada provides community rehabilitation to individuals with brain injury in the Okanagan; the association has a strong focus on brain injury prevention and education, especially for youth, who are at highest risk for traumatic brain injury. For more information, contact Kapp at mkapp@braintrustcanada.com or 250-762-3233, local 115.
