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Karen Wells is a mother on a mission and starting in August that mission will take a big step forward. Free sunscreen dispensers will be placed in three locations in Kelowna. It will provide protection for those who might have forgotten to bring their own, and it will send out a message.
Since losing her son Morgan to Melanoma in 2016, Wells has made it her job to ensure that people understand just how deadly skin cancer can be. And just how easily it can be avoided.
"We almost think if somebody sees it, it might be a cue for them," said Wells. "To say 'Oh, sunscreen. I've got to put mine on.'"
In the pilot project, Wells' charitable organization called 'Morgans Mole Patrol' will look after three sunscreen dispensers. One will be at the tourism information building on the downtown waterfront, one will be at Gyro Beach and a third will be placed at the Kelowna Golf and Country Club. The sunscreen itself is environmentally safe and will be provided by the 'Save Your Skin Foundation'.
"What we're planning to do is have a pilot program that we're going to run for the entire province of BC," said Wells. "And how cool is that, that Kelowna gets to be first."
Just what the public response to the dispensers remains to be seen. "We're actually going to sit by them on certain days and count people," she said, "to see how many people we get, to see how much we're going to need, how much sunscreen we're going to need and how long it lasts."
In Toronto, there has been a similar program in place for three years and this year, they added 50 more dispensers.
Wells said she's been able to channel her grief into energy for this project in the name of her son. "This is my boy," she said. "And and he's helping people."
The plans were to have the dispensers in place by August 1st, but the dispensers are on back-order with the supplier, so it may be a bit later than that.
For more on Karen Wells and she lost her son to skin cancer click here.
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