Brittany Sommerfeld has had her one-year pass for the wildlife recovery centre for only a couple of weeks, but she’s already been back twice.
Sommerfeld, a Parksville resident, had the winning submission for the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre’s gift shop renaming contest back in June. Sommerfeld told The NEWS she had seen the contest on Facebook, and decided to enter.
Her submission was Bear Den Gifts.
RELATED: Help name the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre’s gift shop
“We’ve (her family) gone there for years, and we always like to go check out the bear they have, Knut. I just thought it would be a good name because he’s a big part of the recovery centre, and it’s really good to teach kids about the animals and stuff around here.”
Sommerfeld said she and her family go to the recovery centre for most of the family events.
“I think we’ll be going there lots now and checking it out,” she said.
Jodi Young, NIWRA office manager, said the centre received 372 submissions, with most coming from the Parksville Qualicum Beach area and Nanaimo. Young said she, gift shop co-ordinator Lois Katzuk and NIWRA co-founder Sylvia Campbell, voted on their favourite submission that were wildlife-related.
The recovery centre, located at 1240 Leffler Rd., in Errington, is now open year-round.
For more information on NIWRA, visit www.niwra.org.
Wellness to Wilderness
NIWRA’s documentary Wellness to Wilderness will be playing on Shaw cable this month on Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. and Sept. 24 at 5 p.m.
The award-winning documentary is a full-length feature film that depicts the association’s work with wildlife.
Story tips: lauren.collins@pqbnews.com