Dedicating herself to her community through volunteerism, work, and elected office, the Penticton & Wine Country Chamber of Commerce and presenting sponsor Kettle Valley Memorial are excited to recognize Tracy Van Raes as a Top 40 recipient.
Tracy grew up in Summerland before moving to Penticton and joined the team at Total Restoration Services in 2014.
Hard to believe but back then, Team Total only consisted of five employees and a one-bay warehouse. Fast forward to today and you’ll see over 40 full-time staff working on a large piece of property within Penticton’s industrial district.
As the manager of marketing and community relations, Tracy employed an innovative marketing strategy focused on community impact, which redefined Total Restoration Services’ approach to advertising. Instead of traditional methods, Tracy allocated the company’s advertising budget to support local non-profits resulting in strong community relationships, but also significantly increased the company’s donations with $50,000 contributed to community sponsorships and thousands of volunteer hours from Team Total in 2023.
In addition to her professional achievements, Tracy serves as a School District 67 trustee, a role she was elected to in 2018 and now holds for a second term. She is a vocal advocate for student success and is able to make decisions at the Board of Education table and guide many of the decisions that are made in schools in regards to marginalized students and food programs. In fact, Tracy’s biggest passion in life is addressing food insecurity, particularly with children.
One of the biggest impacts Tracy has had in combatting youth hunger is becoming the Chair of the Rotary Club of Penticton’s Starfish Pack Program. Over the past six years, Tracy has grown the program from 10 backpacks of weekend food support in one school to 110 backpacks in 13 schools through community education, relationship building, and fundraising.
She is also on the Feeding Futures Fund working group for the school district and has developed strong relationships with the other local organizations providing food to children as they often work together to achieve success instead of working in silos and focusing on individual goals.
Tracy’s efforts have garnered numerous awards for Team Total including Community Support Excellence, Workplace Culture Excellence, and Business of the Year. Personally, she has received accolades including Community Volunteer of the Year, is a Paul Harris Fellow, and can now add Top 40 to her long list of achievements.
