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B.C. 6th-grader who started the #levidrome drive wins $10K with his writing

Sixth grader’s essay funds Habitat for Humanity Victoria
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Victoria student Levi Budd won $10,000 for Habitat for Humanity in a writing contest. (Courtesy Lucky Budd)

A Victoria sixth grader took his love of words to a new high, scoring a runner-up award that puts $10,000 into the local Habitat for Humanity coffers.

Levi Budd was among 13,000 students in grades 4, 5 and 6 who entered the third consecutive Habitat for Humanity Canada’s Meaning of Home contest. Three grand prize winners won a $30,000 grant each for a local Habitat while nine runners-up won a $10,000 grant.

RELATED: Victoria boy looks to add levidrome to the dictionary

In his award-winning piece, the St. Michaels University School student shares of himself and how home is a safe space.

“If life is a raging, ravaging, rocking, rough ocean, then home is my dock. My home is my favourite thing in the world, though ice cream is a close second,” Budd writes.

The charity is delighted to receive a $10,000 grant for its build fund, according to the director of family services at Habitat for Humanity Victoria.

RELATED: Levidrome slides into everyday lexicon

“In essence, schoolchildren in Victoria are directly contributing to building homes in our community. We hope next year even more students are given this opportunity to participate in this impactful contest. Special thanks to Levi, his classmates, and all of the Greater Victoria entrants,” Tiffany Gates said.

Every student who entered the contest earned a $10 donation for their local Habitat in the contest, raising $311,000 for local Habitat for Humanity organizations across Canada.

Budd has had a passion for words from a young age. Oak Bay News readers will be familiar with his name as the boy behind the term levidrome that made headlines in 2018.

RELATED: William Shatner tweet boosts BC boy’s bid to get levidrome in the dictionary

Then 6, he hoped to fix a gaping hole in the English language by inventing a new word and made a bid to get it in the dictionary. Defined by Levi Budd, a levidrome is a word that contains the same lettering but spells a different word when written backwards.

He’d discovered palindromes – words or phrases such as “Bob” that read the same forward and backward – and couldn’t get enough.

While the #levidrome conversation continues online, it has yet to appear in the dictionary.

Visit meaningofhome.ca/page/winners2022 to read all the winning work.


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c.vanreeuwyk@blackpress.ca



Christine van Reeuwyk

About the Author: Christine van Reeuwyk

I'm dedicated to serving the community of Oak Bay as a senior journalist with the Greater Victoria news team.
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