A Giraffe has been sighted in Kelowna BC

Sandy Dore would give you the shirt off his back—the one that says, “Standing Together Against Racism.” And then he’d want you to wear it down the main street of a white-supremacist town.

Dore started a campaign to stop racism and the recruitment of youth into white-supremacist groups in his hometown. “People Against Racism, Standing Together Against Racism,”(PAR STAR,) touched a nerve in a town targeted by racist activities and attitudes. “Communities get apathetic if something doesn’t galvanize them,” says Dore. “We were showing people where we stand.”

As a teacher and school counselor for over twenty years, Dore was used to taking a stand—in front of a classroom. Standing up to the Aryan Nation was another matter.

But when Dore’s secondary school was targeted as a recruiting ground for Aryan youth, Dore spoke out. “As teachers, we should be the guys who are leading—we should be up there saying what we believe.”

Not everyone agreed. School administrators and colleagues were skeptical. “When you start being vocal,” says Dore, “people say ‘tone it down’ or ‘don't make waves.’” Dore and his family started to get hate mail, and anonymous phone calls in the middle of the night. Instead of toning it down, Dore just got an unlisted phone number—and went right on advocating for respect and understanding. He gets students at his school to examine racism up close and personal, bringing Holocaust survivors in to talk to them.

He convinced city hall to declare Kelowna a racism-free town. The mayor has proclaimed a “Standing Together Against Racism” day and members of the Attorney General’s Provincial Hate Crime team now wear Dore’s anti-racism tee-shirts.