Kelowna athlete’s mother fundraising to see him compete at Paris Olympics – Okanagan | Globalnews.ca
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Last month, Georgia Powell travelled from Kelowna, B.C. to the Canadian Track and Field Championships in Langley, B.C. to watch her son, Olympic silver medal-winning sprinter Jerome Blake.
“It was the most amazing thing for me,” said Powell. “I am proud of him and I am happy to call him my son.”
Now, she wants to be on the sidelines when he returns to the Olympic stage in Paris next year.
“I know he will get picked to go to the Olympics in Paris and that’s where I really want to go see him there. I have never seen him run on that level so I am trying to send myself there,” said Powell.
She’s asking the community to help get her there by purchasing bracelets that she is selling for $5 each.
“One of the bracelets says ‘I love you,’ and I dedicated that one to my son so that he knows mom loves him and is trying her best to see him. And he knows I am somewhere in the crowd,” said Powell
To help her make her wish come true, a friend has stepped up to give her fundraising plan a boost.
“I thought that’s a lot of bracelets to sell,” said Mohini Singh, a family friend. “I decided to do something. I contacted the organizers of the Garry Benson Memorial Golf Tournament and told them about [Blake] and [Powell].”
The golf tournament will be held in honour of Benson who was the founding partner of Benson Law LLP and is described by Singh as someone with a big heart who loved to help others.
“The reason I approached them was because Benson was a big supporter of Jerome’s,” said Singh. “I just did it one mom to another. It’s just a mother’s desire to see her son at his finest hour.”
The chair of the golf tournament, Marek Buryska, along with a committee decided to add Powell as one of the beneficiaries of the first annual Garry Benson Memorial Golf Tournament.
“The majority of the funds are for BC Cancer Foundation, of course, Benson had lung cancer,” said Buryska.
“If Benson was here he would have found a way to send Powell to Paris so that she can watch her son run.”
Buryska says that as a beneficiary of the tournament, Benson will receive thousands of dollars to help fund her trip.
“It would be amazing, it would be such a cool experience, for her especially, going to the Olympics,” said Blake. “Not everybody gets to say they go to the Olympics let alone say they get to compete at the Olympic games, especially leaving with a medal.”
Anyone wishing to help make Powell’s dream a reality by purchasing one of her bracelets can contact her at totalcareseniors@gmail.com or by phone at 778-594-6256.
If you would like to take part in the Garry Benson Memorial Golf Tournament visit www.bensonlawllp.com
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