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Prince Rupert teens donate tour funds to the wildlife shelter

A group of young Prince Rupert residents donated money raised through their volunteer work this cruise season to help the wildlife shelter.
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Left to right: Gunther Golinia of the Prince Rupert Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre accepts a cheque from tour operators Seamus McConville

A group of young Prince Rupert residents donated money raised through their volunteer work from the 2012 cruise season to help the local wildlife shelter.

The Student-Led Adventure program, developed by 17-year old Seamus McConville, offered cruise guests a walking tour of Prince Rupert complete with a 45-minute script featuring highlights from the city's history, developed along with 18 year old Linnea Vednittelli.

"Ironically the easiest part was preparing content for the tour. The hardest part was marketing the tour to passengers. We used signs, brochures and a website to inform visitors about the tours. But in the end the most effective technique was engaging with passengers face-to-face," said McConville.

In all seven students, including 17-year old recruiter Niamh Tighe, volunteered as cultural ambassadors on a walk that went through Cow Bay to the downtown core and back. Once the students were selected, team members took part in a dress-rehearsal of sorts, walking the route and learning a script which included Prince Rupert history from bootlegging to war time.

"Finding and coordinating our volunteer guides was tricky. We wanted to find people from our age group who are good communicators and who are proud of our city," said Tighe.

"We wanted to guarantee that our 'customers' would have an experience that was excellent all the time," added McConville.

The tours were offered on a pay-what-you-can basis, and on Wednesday the group presented a cheque for $230 from the earnings of the tours to the Prince Rupert Wildlife Rehab Shelter.