ICBC and BC Transplant expand organ donation program
As of now, every British Columbian visiting an ICBC driver licensing location will be asked to register their decision about organ donation.
To increase the number of people with a registered decision, ICBC and BC Transplant are expanding a provincial partnership to all ICBC driver licensing locations across the province. Fifty per cent of British Columbians believe they have registered a decision on organ donation but, in fact, only 21 per cent have. For this reason, last year ICBC ran a pilot in four locations where staff provided information about organ donation to customers and encouraged them to register their decision.
More than 15,000 customers registered their decision as a result of the pilot program. Based on the success at the North Vancouver, Abbotsford, Kelowna and Vancouver Royal Centre driver licensing offices, the remaining 14 ICBC driver licensing locations throughout B.C. will start the program today.
“More than 600 people are desperately waiting for organ donation in B.C.,” said Greg Kyllo, the MLA for Shuswap on behalf of Terry Lake, Minister of Health and Todd Stone, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.
“We saw tremendous success through ICBC andBCTransplant’sinitialpartnership.Thegovernment of British Columbia is thrilled to see the program expanding. We believe it can make a real difference.”
Last year 1.1 million customer transactions were completed at ICBC driver licensing offices.
Customers attend driver licensing locations for transactions related to their driver's licence, B.C. identification, B.C. Services Card, as well as to pay various tickets and penalties.
“We know that an overwhelming amount of people support organ donation, so we’re pleased to get behind this important cause to make it easy for our customers to register their decision,” said Mark Blucher, ICBC’s president and CEO. “With so many British Columbians visiting our offices, it’s a great opportunity to have these conversations.”
A customer only needs to register once in a lifetime, but a decal on your driver's licence is no longer enough to ensure you're registered as an organ donor. Register your decision at register.transplant.bc.ca or call 1-800-6636189.
Two applications are from the Regional District while five others are on behalf of various public and non-profit community organizations. Individual projects that address water issues, knowledge sharing and enhance sustainable water use may qualify for OBWB program grants between $3,000 and $30,000 with a total of $182,760 available for projects within the Central Okanagan.
A car stopped in the left lane on Highway 97 with the driver passed out behind the wheel was an indication police might want to take a further look.
West Kelowna RCMP say when they were able to rouse the driver, they found over 500 grams of suspected methamphetamine and more than 300 grams of suspected cocaine in the vehicle. A passing motorist had spotted the car on the highway near Hudson Road about 2:40 a.m. Monday. The motorist stopped to check on the driver, called police and proceeded to direct traffic around the car.
Police say the groggy driver is a 49-year-old Alberta man. He was released from custody and is expected to appear in court on May 20.
The City of West Kelowna has completed the installation of surveillance cameras at its two transit exchanges to help discourage inappropriate behavior and ensure the safety of users.
The surveillance cameras will monitor the Westbank Transit Exchange on Elliott Road in downtown West Kelowna and the Boucherie Mountain Transit Exchange located on Westgate Road in Boucherie Centre.The cameras will operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and will help deter vandalism, theft or other crimes. The cameras can capture important details that can be provided to West Kelowna RCMP if necessary. Signs indicating that the areas are under video surveillance have been installed at both exchanges.