Presenting the 2025 Keeping It Living Award

At the sold-out Keeping It Living Dinner held on Saturday, September 13th at 40 Knots Winery, we were proud to present the 2025 Keeping It Living Award to Helmut Novak, representing the Millard Piercy Watershed Stewards, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the protection and restoration of the K’ómoks Estuary and its connected watersheds. 

Helmut Novak, who accepted the award on behalf of the organization, was overjoyed by the recognition saying, “What a pleasant surprise, we are truly honored.” We are equally thrilled to honour the decades of dedicated work the Millard Piercy Watershed Stewards have invested in improving watershed health and fostering community-based stewardship. 

Since 2010, the Keeping It Living Award has recognized individuals and organizations making significant, tangible contributions to the restoration and protection of estuaries and watersheds in the Comox Valley. The award includes the presentation of a symbolic painting of the K’ómoks Estuary, donated by renowned local artist Bev Byerley, which has become the emblem of the campaign. 

The Millard Piercy Watershed Stewards were selected for their long-term commitment to the health of the Millard-Piercy Watershed and their recent work investigating the impacts of a toxic chemical in tire rubber that is affecting salmon populations (6PPDQ), making fish passage improvements to support aquatic species mobility, and their active participation in the Community Water Quality Monitoring Initiative. These efforts directly support the health of the K’ómoks Estuary, as the Millard-Piercy system flows directly into it and is a key freshwater source. 

The Keeping It Living Dinner is our annual fundraising event. This year, the event was in support of the Kus-kus-sum project. We are still fundraising to complete the final stages of this project and will be hosting the final public planting events this fall. For those who wish to support the cause, donations are still being accepted, and every contribution brings us one step closer to a restored and thriving estuary. Results and photos of the dinner event will be posted shortly.

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