‘We have a great community’: Canada Day ‘living flag’ gives back to Vernon family

A Vernon group is creating a new Canada Day tradition and giving back to a local family in the process.

Roughly 150 people came together in Vernon on Sunday to celebrate Canada Day, not just by waving the Maple Leaf but by actually forming a so-called “living flag.”

Participants gathered in a school field and donning red shirts, they stood in the formation of a maple leaf and sang the national anthem.

Crystal Leese, with the North Okanagan Community Life Society, came up with the idea.

“I originally was a part of one back in Winnipeg with my daughter. It is an event that we loved and missed being a part of,” Leese said.

She figured the good time could also support a good cause.

More than $5,600 raised through donations at the event will be used to help a Vernon family build an accessible bathroom.

Dawson Buburuz, 19, has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. However, he doesn’t have a wheelchair-accessible shower at home.

His family applied for a grant to make the needed modifications to their bathroom, but was turned down — so this fundraiser means a lot.

“Sponge bathing Dawson and having to depend on bathing him elsewhere is inconvenient,” explained Luanna Buburuz, Dawson’s mother.

As participants gathered, arranging themselves in a maple leaf, a flyover captured a picture of the formation from the air.

“Everybody has been really kind and we’ve had lots of donations,” Luanna Buburuz said.

“We have a great community. I’m very proud.”