Evan Dyce of Aldergrove Community Secondary School met his “little buddy” at Shortreed Elementary School for the first time three years ago, in the fall of his Grade 10 year.
Since the initial meeting, Dyce has continued to make a short five-minute drive down the street every Tuesday to meet his buddy for an hour. Volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Langley as a school mentor, Dyce is like a “friend and role model” for his little buddy.
“During our visits we often build Lego, play board games, or talk about what his puppy got up to since I last saw him,” he explained.
Dyce said his relationship with his buddy has only strengthened through the pandemic – “building into a relationship built on trust and companionship.”
RELATED: VIDEO: Aspiring to make a difference – scholarship makes it possible
An active volunteer in the community, Dyce was recently recognized in front of his teachers and schoolmates – thanks to Jodi Steeves, a local realtor – for his acts of kindness.
The two met at Steeves’ office, where the 18-year-old was names the winner of the third annual Jodi Steeves Kindness Scholarship.
When the realtor announced the scholarship initiative last month, “a good amount” of applications came in. But, the essay that impressed Steeves and her team the most was of Dyce. In addition to talking about his work with Big Brothers Big Sisters, Dyce spoke about how he tries to help others in his day-to-day life – like making dinner once a week so his mom can get a night off or doing fundraising for the community, as the president of the student council.
Steeves said Dyce was chosen for his efforts in helping the community. He received $1,000 as an award, which Dyce will use towards tuition or books.
He will be joining Simon Fraser University this fall and plans to continue his community service initiatives. An aspiring software engineer Dyce was also recently gifted $80,000 to help make his future dreams a reality. He was a recipient of the Schulich Leader Scholarship.
READ MORE: 6 Langley youth awarded for leadership efforts
Known in the community for his acts of kindness, Dyce was also one of the winners of the Rotary Club’s SASSY Awards.
“We believe Evan will do great things and inspire others to follow suit,” Steeves said. “We hope this scholarship and campaign adds a little more kindness to someone’s day,” she added.
.
Is there more to the story? Email: news@langleyadvancetimes.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
