On May 6, Linda Helm joined 24 others from across the province to be honoured as a recipient of a BC Community Achievement award.
Helm was nominated for the award by Jim Kincaid, a former recipient of the award himself. “I have known Linda for fifteen years and have witnessed the kinds of activities she is involved in,” says Kincaid. “She has been an excellent leader with the young people of our community and sets a positive model for all of us to emulate. I have no hesitation in nominating her for this award and believe her membership in our family of recipients would bring honour to all of us and to the Foundation.”
Helm says she just about hung up on the person when she got the phone call telling her she had won: “When the phone call came I thought it was a prank call,” she says. “I was going to hang up the phone, but Charles was standing to the side saying ‘don’t hang up the phone.’ Everybody in the family knew back in September and kept it from me, which was surprising, as I pride myself in knowing what’s happening in the family.”
Helm has been involved in developing of Tumbler Ridge as an outdoor recreation and healthy lifestyle destination, and has helped organize the Ridge Ramble Biathlon, Ridge Ramble Cross Country Run and the Emperor’s Challenge, as well as helping building and maintaining many of the Wolverine Nordic and Mountain Society Trails.
But her proudest work has been working as a coach and a mentor for the kids of the community.
For years, she volunteered to help kids with track and field, cross country skiing and cross country running. Her children Carina and Daniel wrote a letter of support for her nomination, saying: “Our mother’s true passion was enriching the lives of children in Tumbler Ridge by providing them with opportunities in the form of extracurricular activities. By doing so, she provided an avenue for children to build connections and gain skills that might otherwise be lacking in rural northern BC.”
As the kids were growing up, Helm would pitch in and coach any sport the two wanted to get involved with. “Track and field, cross country running, cross country skiing, soccer, baseball, basketball. She founded a high-school leadership program aimed at promoting student pride and leadership. Through these activities, she instilled her community values of giving back to the kids she was coaching.”
Eventually, the high school designated her a ‘super-volunteer.’ This allowed her to take students on trips across the province without a teacher chaperone. “A short list of some of these trips includes leading the high-school teams on annual trips to the lower mainland for cross country running and track and field provincials, which inspired the athletes by exposing them to a higher calibre of competition, trips to national conferences for the leadership council, which broadened the worldview of many students, and encouraged young students to attend week-long youth programs in Ottawa such as Forum for Young Canadians and Encounters with Canada to meet inspired young students from across the country,” write her children.
But even after her kids graduated, she continued to volunteer for the school. She was one of the people who creation of the Geopark Club after Tumbler Ridge was granted the designation of a UNESCO Global Geopark, taking high school kids on field trips to many of the nearby geosites.
“Her desire to get youth outdoors to appreciate these aspects of Tumbler Ridge is reminiscent of our time on the cross-country running team where she would organize training runs to the beautiful trails built by the Wolverine Nordic Mountain Society,” write the kids. “For many this would be their first time seeing these wilderness destinations and would often lead these students to volunteer their time to help develop more trails around town.”
Linda says one of the best things about the award was being able to reconnect with some of
Carina and Daniel say that, as her children, they took her efforts and dedication for granted. “Our mother has always been very understated and modest. However, the difference that she had on us and many of our peers cannot be understated. As a result of her efforts, we were exposed to experiences far outside of what could be expected in a small northern mining town. These experiences, and the instillation of her values by leading by example, would change our outlook and shape our future.”
Helm joins a growing list of past winners from Tumbler Ridge: Kevin Sharman, Jim Kincaid, Jerrilyn Schembri and Birgit Sharman. Indeed, Helms award makes the fourth year in a row that someone from Tumbler Ridge has been recognized.
She says that being nominated has given her a chance to reflect back on her time working with the kids. “How precious those times were, to work with the kids and give them opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise had.”
So, before heading down to Government House, she called up a bunch of students she’d worked with in the past who are living down south, and was able to meet with them while she was there. “Kelsey (Legault) and her husband were even able to come to the awards,” she says.
Now that husband Charles is retired, she says the two are out of town a little too much for her to be able to commit to a full program. She’s always willing to help out as much as she can, though. “I’m hoping there will be someone to champion things like track and field in the future. It’s one of the things the kids remember later on: the chance to get out of town and compete and meet other people.”
