Brysen Howe with the 2022 Grande Prairie Auto Group Community Champion Award, photo courtesy EverythingGP Staff

By Tanner Smith

Community Award

Grande Prairie teen wins Auto Group Community Champion Award

Oct 12, 2022 | 8:02 AM

The Grande Prairie Auto Group Community Champion Award has a new name to add to its legacy.

Fifteen-year-old Bryson Howe is the recipient of the award that started in 2017 to recognize individuals who demonstrate meaningful progress to our community and advocate for volunteering and positive change.

Howe says winning the award was a shock and an honor, “The support is the biggest thing to be honest with you. If there’s not people, where am I? What am I? The support, the award, the money, all of it, it means so much. Honestly I just got off school and it came to me, I just showed up and I didn’t know what was happening.”

Howe has made significant impacts on his community by raising $50,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society through his Dash to the Cache for Cancer and even going door to door playing his ukulele for donations.

For Howe, this mission all started when he had someone in his family that was affected by cancer, “The whole thing kind of started because my great grandfather had cancer, so I felt this was a good way to stand up in his legacy.”

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“I feel like he would be very proud of me knowing what I did and where I’ve gotten. Starting from nowhere and taking it up, (his fundraising) I think he would be very proud of me,” says Howe.

Howe says he is thankful for all the people that nominated and voted for him to win this award, and especially thankful for his parents “who have been with me the whole time.”

He joins an group of Grande Prairie residents that have made a lasting change in our community:

• Darren Foley and his work with the 3D Children’s Society.
• Sherilee Crawley and Penny Newhook for their work with the Canadian Mental Health Outreach.
• Linda and Rhonda Side for starting Reading University.
• Vernon Boyd for his dedication to Big Brothers Big Sisters.
• Ron Reginer for his commitment to Jump Start & Kev’s Kids.

With the award, the Grande Prairie Auto Group also donated $1,000 to the Canadian Cancer Society in Howe’s name.

Photo courtesy EverythingGP Staff

Photo courtesy EverythingGP Staff