By Rachelle Fraser

Anne-Sophie Beaudoin enjoys staying active by exploring the Okanagan area.

Hiking, biking local trails, roller skating along the waterfront, or just watching Netflix with her roomies are some of her favourite things to do when she鈥檚 not volunteering her time in the community.

Beaudoin is passionate about helping people. She has volunteered for many organizations that work with people who live with disabilities and strive to make 琉璃神社 鈥渁n inclusive and accessible city.鈥�

She has volunteered with the Special Olympics program in Vernon and Connect Communities in Lake Country working to empower those living with brain injuries. For the last two years, Beaudoin has been lending her time to Community Recreational Initiatives Society (CRIS) where she is part of a team of people dedicated to helping those with disabilities explore the great outdoors.

With the help of specialized equipment and a few dedicated volunteers, people with physical disabilities can experience activities like hiking, kayaking, rock climbing, skiing, and other activities that would otherwise be very difficult if not impossible.

In the future, she would like to diversify her volunteer portfolio to gain as much experience working with different organizations as possible. Each new volunteer experience teaches her new ways to help others reach their goals. She plans to work with programs such as Pacific Sport, Canucks Autism, and People in Motion in the future.

With her upbeat, approachable personality and desire to help others, it鈥檚 no surprise that she plans to pursue a career in Occupational Therapy so she can continue to help people with disabilities live more independently. The Volunteer Spirit Scholarship Award from the Central Okanagan Foundation is going to make it easier for Beaudoin to continue to volunteer her time while she also finishes her Human Kinetics program and moves on to tackle a master鈥檚 degree.

The Central Okanagan Foundation celebrated their 40th Anniversary by awarding five deserving post-secondary students with a $1,500 scholarship from the newly created Central Okanagan Foundation Volunteer Spirit Scholarship Fund.

Each of the five scholarship recipients is to be featured in an article that highlights their volunteer work and their education/career goals as part of this 鈥淐OF Volunteer Spirit Scholarship Series鈥� between July 5 and July 14.