PENINSULA
NEWS REVIEW
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Panthers’ streak hits six games
Top billing for local student
Peninsula goaltenders combine for two more wins on the road over the weekend, page 17
Parkland Secondary’s Aria Kaul to play Jack in Peninsula Players’ performances, page 15
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Wednesday, December 16, 2015
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Santa’s Helpers need your help
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Toys, food and coins in short supply and time is running out
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Steven Heywood News staff
The weather outside was frightful and for people trying to raise toys and money for children in need, that means their efforts are anything but delightful. With the deadline for donations fast approaching, the Peninsula Santa’s Helpers are putting out a call for more toys and gifts for children — especially for youth aged 12 to 16. Carey Salvador, a Santa’s Helpers spokesperson and an employee at the Mary Winspear Centre, says donations are way down this season compared with last year and she thinks the inclement weather is to blame. “All this bad weather could be keeping people away,” she said. “And that is affecting our donations.” Peninsula Santa’s Helpers is the new name of a group of people, led by the Mary Winspear Centre, collecting toys for children in need. They are accepting new, unwrapped toys for boys and girls age six months to 16 years. While they have a new name, volunteers with the organization have been collecting toys for years. The gifts are wrapped by volunteers and between Dec. 16 and 18, they are made available to families who need support. PleaSe See: Toys for youth in short supply, page 4
Carlie Connolly/News staff
Constable Scott Seutter with Sidney North Saanich RCMP speaks with a driver along Central Saanich Road and Mt. Newton Cross Road. Police on the Saanich Peninsula and across B.C. are conducting roadside checks, looking for impaired drivers.
Police hunt for impaired drivers Saanich Peninsula officers and ICBC set up an awareness check Carlie Connolly News staff
News file photo
Mary Winspear Centre volunteers Cathy Aitken and Margaret Boyd sort some of the many gifts donated by Saanich Peninsula residents in 2014.
Police are looking for impaired drivers as part of the Counter Attack campaign taking place across the province this month. Officers with Central Saaich Police Service and the Sidney North Saanich RCMP and ICBC Road Safety co-ordinator, Colleen Woodger were at the inter-
section of Mt. Newton Cross Road and Central Saanich Road recently, checking many cars that went by, raising awareness about the risks associated with impaired driving. “In December we just really like to get into all the communities so that’s why we’re out here on the Peninsula to remind people that Counter Attacks are everywhere and we all have a responsibility to keep our roads safe,”
Woodger told the PNR. There are two Counter Attack campaigns a year, one in December and one in July and Woodger said provincially, 83 people die each year as a result of impaired driving crashes and on Vancouver Island alone, 13 die in similar incidents. PleaSe See: Find alternate ways, page 21