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OAK BAYNEWS
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Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Pennies won’t go to waste
Municipality names CAO Laura Lavin News staff
Laura Lavin News staff
Jenna Greene has invented a new use for dog poop bags – she’s collecting pennies in them. “My kitten Gus died … I felt sad, but I wanted to help other animals,” said the 10-year-old Willows elementary school student. Gus, just nine months old, was a victim of feline infectious peritonitis, a usually fatal, incurable disease that affects cats. Gus helped fill the void left when her cat Max died at age five, also from disease. In the year since Gus died, Jenna has been thinking of helping others, but a recent trip to the SPCA with a neighbour sparked her Unwanted Pennies for Unwanted Pets collection. “I thought of helping cats and the other animals at the SPCA and they supported my ideas and told me to come in anytime,” she said. The SPCA provided her with literature and donation boxes. Armed with a donation box, a handful of dog poop bags to collect pennies in and a poster she made with a picture of Gus on it, Jenna and her dad Joe went around her Carnarvon area neighbourhood for two hours a couple of weeks ago and collected $84.94 in just two hours for her pennies for pets project. “I expected to get $30, so I was very surprised,” she said. “I want to continue fundraising until summer and my goal is to raise $500.” For those who weren’t home, Jenna left a small disposable poop bag with a note attached explaining her penny drive. She then returned a week later to collect donations. Laura Lavin/News staff
PLEASE SEE: Coin donations roll in, Page A4
Offer Expires Mar. 26, 2013
Jenna Greene, 10, holds doggy bags full of pennies she’s collected for the SPCA. She was motivated to help pets by the death of her kitten, Gus.
Former Central Saanich Chief Administrative Officer Gary Nason will take over as Oak Bay’s temporary CAO. The well-respected administrator spent 19 years in the role at Central Saanich before retiring in July 2012. “He will be with us until we select a permanent replacement,” said Oak Bay Mayor Nils Jensen. Oak Bay’s administrator Mark Brennan Gary Nason left the position last month, after a three-year tenure, to pursue other interests. “We are going to start the process to find a permanent replacement shortly. … (We) estimate it will take four to six months to find a replacement,” Jensen said. Jensen solicited names of potential candidates from the Local Government Managers Association and others in local government, before bringing a selection of names to council. “His name came up from so many sources. He is highly qualified and suited to the job. All the vectors pointed to him,” he said. Nason, who has 25 to 30 years experience in local government, starts work on March 11. editor@oakbaynews.com
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