Satisfy your sweet tooth, without leaving the comfort of your home or office, and you can help a Vernon lad help people in Mexico.
Josh Beazley, 14, is entering Grade 10 at Vernon Christian School, and he and some classmates are raising money to go to Puerto Puansco – a nearly four-hour drive south of Phoenix – from April 25 to May 2. The students will be going with the organization One Mission to help build homes for families who really need them.
Beazley has created , cone-shaped bags full of candy, which he provides and he will deliver on his e-bike.
"I needed a way to raise money for the trip, and I thought, 'everyone loves candy, I like candy as well, and I love riding my bike,' so I decided to start this business to raise money for the trip," said Beazley.
"It's a win-win situation."
Beazley and his fellow students each have to raise $1,750 to go on the Mexican adventure. So far, he's about a third of the way there.
"I"ll be there working hard with a team, actually building houses with my own hands, to give these families a proper home," he said. "Give them a place to be safe and grow."
Build A Bag is a cool way for people to get exactly the candy they want.
Beazley has a ton of varieties, and customers get to pick their favourites up to six types of candies to create their own custom mix. A 200-gram bag runs $3.99; 300g is $5.99; and a 500g bag is $9.50. He also sells candy and cotton candy in bulk.
"It's kind of like a personalized candy shop in a bag," said Beazley, who takes orders online at and will deliver free of charge via his bike.
Beazley will bike anywhere in Vernon from his home in the BX region. He's made deliveries out to Coldstream as well.
The idea for the candy bag came after brainstorming fundraising ideas with his dad, Sam.
"We built this," said Beazley, adding while he's never built a house before, he has helped dad build a shed. "We came up with the logo, we print off the labels. I do all the bagging."
Originally from Cornwall, in England, Beazley arrived in the North Okanagan with his family two summers ago. Mom Mandee is originally from Vernon, and Beazley is the middle child of three, sandwiched between two sisters.
He's pretty excited to be heading south next year to help people he's never met.
"It feels like the trip will be fun time to help other people and spend quality time with my friends," said Beazley. "We'll eat meals together, and I'll get to know friends more, and help other people have a really safe place to be."
Beazley has no plans to shut down his Build A Bag business after the trip and mission is completed.
"I want to continue and donate a percentage of the profits either to charity or to my church," he said. "I want to help other people. There are a lot of people not as fortunate as me that have the ability to make businesses, have a dad help start up this business. My family supports me so much, a lot of people don't have that.
"So I'd like to donate to help people have a more enjoyable life."
Vernon Christian School has been taking groups to Mexico for about 20 years, and the last half of that time has been partnered with One Mission, which is a Christian community development organization giving people in poverty the opportunity to earn a house by serving their community.
Since 2018, 1,173 families have earned a house. More information on One Mission can be found at .
VCS encourages its students planning to go on the mission to raise money by working in the community.
Beazley's entire class has the opportunity to go. Some of the fundraisers the school organizes includes selling apples from Davison Orchards; picking apples from local orchards and making apple pies to sell; selling poinsettias; hosting a fiesta with a cake auction; online auction.
Students learn to write support letters to send to family and friends.
You can check out the school website, , for details on upcoming fundraising initiatives for the Mexico trip.
