Despite narrowly missing one of the three B.C. Ambassador crowns, Vernon’s Kelsey von Holst proved to be a worthy competitor.
The 19-year-old recently returned from an event in Merritt, where she picked up five awards and two scholarships.
“I was happy to be able to walk away with some money for school,” said the former Queen Silver Star, whose business administration classes resume at Okanagan College.
“I’m ready to start on school and get busy with that.”
Up against 12 other competitors, von Holst was among the top five in the following categories: sponsorship, community presentation and top fundraiser. She was also named one of the top people’s picks (where supporters voted online for their favourite ambassador hopeful).
“I was one of the top fundraisers, so I got back a quarter of what I raised,” said von Holst, who broke fundraising records by collecting $6,200 for the B.C. Ambassador program, therefore she was granted back $1,550.
She also received the top promotion award for the ambassador program.
“I promoted the program the best in my community. I came up with the idea of making a banner, which no one else has ever done before and now they’re considering doing that throughout the program.”
North Okanagan residents may have noticed von Holst out at various community events throughout the summer, selling cotton candy and getting on stages where ever she could. In fact, she attended 18 events between June and August and broke records for sponsorship.
“All she needed was 15 and she had 40 sponsors which is testimony to the support she had from community, friends and family,” said mom Carol von Holst. “We just want to be sure that the community knows how much their support was appreciated and that Kelsey received many compliments on how wonderful our community was in the way that they supported her.”
The B.C. Ambassador program is an annual event where three members are chosen to represent the youth of our province. As part of their duties, they travel throughout B.C. promoting the program mandate of Education, Motivation, and Self-Esteem.
The 2011 B.C. Ambassadors are: Freda Zhang – White Rock, Paris Sanesh – Kamloops and Sarah Simon – Merritt.
“Running for B.C. Ambassador was a wonderful unexpected experience for Kelsey but she is excited to be able to move on and focus on her education,” said Carol.
