Katie Hyslop Is Rarin' To Go, Turn Her Loose!

We had some good news yesterday, so we went looking for Katie Hyslop (you can find her immediately by watching the video above).

Katie is the Tyee's reporter on youth well-being, and she has this great idea to roam the province of B.C. interviewing teens and young adults about what they are up against, where their hopes lie, and what they think our leaders should be doing to insure a better future.

Katie's idea is bold -- youth seem to be the last people media ever ask for their opinion even though they must live in the world we create. And sending a reporter around B.C. would cost some money.

That's why we went looking for Katie yesterday. Our fundraising drive asking you who read The Tyee to contribute to send Katie on her journey hit a key milestone, edging over $15,000 late in day. Katie was blown away, grateful and, as usual, humble. When we said the average contribution was $50 from 300 generous souls, Katie said, ''Gosh. Fifty dollars. That's an amount I'd expect someone to reserve for helping with some natural disaster!''

Then again, if we don't pay attention to what our youth know and feel, we may be inviting our own disaster -- a province hostile to its next generation. That's why we are calling Katie's project Voices from the Future.

And while it's great that we've hit $15,000, our budget for Katie's year-long project is $25,000.

And we only have three days left to raise it. We really want to deliver for Katie. Can you help?

Please do consider giving to this project. Click here to learn how.

Back to Katie. We found her looking at a map of B.C., just off the phone with one of many people already inviting her to swing by their town.

''I just got an email from an organization working with youth in the Bulkley Valley,'' Katie told us. ''They are super excited about having me come and talk with young people there about how they feel about good jobs, LNG, pipelines, and the impact on their environment.''

Some who are contacting Katie are teens, some are adults who work with youth, one was a high-ranking public official (we're not saying who). There is already a ton of enthusiasm out there about the year-long quest Katie is planning and the thousands of kilometres she will travel.

Consider this:

If you give $65 that's gas from Hope to Hazelton.

If you give $100 that adds another day -- motel and peanut butter sandwiches -- to Katie's trip. Put another pin in that map!

Give even $20, and you will pay for the meal Katie buys a young person while conducting her interview. Hey, it's only polite.

We really like having Katie around the office, so don't get us wrong. It's just that we're itching to say goodbye to her because we know how much this means to her. And we believe this could have an important impact in this election year. Young people, after all, have the biggest stake in our shared future. We pledge to send the entire Voices from the Future series to every person running for provincial office in B.C.

Click here and help Katie hit the road!