Carter’s Project
Since 2024, Carter Vigh’s legacy has been changing the way small communities throughout BC are preparing for and adapting to wildfire smoke.
Carter Vigh (left) and his mom, Amber Vigh in an undated photo. 1
Carter’s Project
Building Resilience from Tragedy
Background
In July 2023, nine-year-old Carter Vigh tragically died from a serious asthma attack. Despite a clear sky and no visible indicators of poor air quality, Carter’s mom Amber still took all her usual precautions, including checking the air quality index on her phone to ensure it was safe to send Carter to summer camp. The nearest air quality monitoring station which provided Amber this information was over a hundred kilometers away; too far to detect the air pollution in 100 Mile House, where the Vigh family lived. Had there been a monitoring station closer to 100 Mile House with more accurate information on the concentration of dangerous fine particulate matter in the air, Carter’s family believes his death may have been preventable.
In 2024, the BC Lung Foundation, an organization focusing on the prevention of lung disease and patient advocacy, partnered with Amber Vigh to launch Carter’s Project, a fully subsidized program with the aim of filling gaps in air quality awareness throughout the province by providing small communities with resources, support and education.2
Filling a Provincial Gap
As of 2025, Carter’s Project has held workshops in three BC communities, including 100 Mile House, Dawson Creek, and Gold River—a small community on Vancouver Island of around 1000 people. These communities are marked on the the map with blue pins.
Spreading Air Quality Awareness Across BC
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Communities reached as of 2025
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Indoor air quality monitors distributed in 100 Mile House, Carter Vigh’s hometown
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Community members with improved access to air quality data in 100 Mile House, Dawson Creek and Gold River
“Wildfire smoke has become such a problem in our province, so having these programs and education in place is very vital to the health of everyone’s lungs.”
Kira Rowsell, Director, Marketing & Communications, BC Lung Foundation
Town Hall Meetings
Town hall meetings put on by Carter’s Project serve as a way to hear the needs of community members, provide education about air quality health hazards, and distribute free indoor air quality monitors for residents to take home.
People attending a town hall meeting receive instructions for reading their indoor air quality monitors.
School Workshops
Elementary school students are educated on the importance and safety of air quality, and build a DIY air cleaner for their classroom.
A DIY air-cleaner made by students for their classroom.
Air Quality Monitoring
Purple Air monitors are installed in a location where the area’s air quality can be reliably monitored. This data is uploaded in real-time so that residents have accurate information regarding their surrounding outdoor air quality.
A Purple Air monitor installed outdoors in 100 Mile House, the home of the Vigh family.
DIY Air Cleaner Workshops
Workshops are put on for community members to build low-cost air cleaners to use inside their homes. In addition to wildfire smoke, particles from woodsmoke also pose significant health risks for those who use it to heat their homes. Some of these risks can be mitigated by having in-home air cleaners and air quality monitors, as well as by keeping people informed as to what activities are safe to do and when, in and outside of the house.
A community member puts a Carter’s Project sticker onto their home-made air cleaner at a workshop.
“It’s a neat way to equip this younger generation with information that they’re probably going to carry with them for many years, if not the rest of their life. Knowledge is power in this sense.”
-Kira Rowsell, Director, Marketing & Communications, BC Lung Foundation
-Kira Rowsell, Director, Marketing & Communications, BC Lung Foundation
Open Source Data
Purple air is an open-source, non-for-profit initiative allowing individuals from all over the world to collect and share air-quality data. The website is also home to multiple user-supported forums where people can ask questions about different layers of the map, learn to understand different readings and measures regarding air particles, and contribute to a global citizen science initiative.
Carter’s Project in Dawson Creek
Check out this video by the BC Lung Foundation of how Carter’s Project is changing the way Dawson Creek builds resilience to wildfire smoke, including footage of the town hall meeting and DIY air-cleaner workshop.
Evaluating Progress & Future Directions
The BC Lung Foundation has conducted follow-up surveys with the communities they have visited to evaluate the impact of their work. They have looked into whether and when people are using their monitors and air-cleaners, and if Carter’s Project has influenced their health behaviours, such as decisions to go outside or exercise on days with heavy smoke.
The Vigh family and the BC Lung Foundation are hard at work to equip rural communities across the province with the knowledge and technology they need to better protect their lung health. The devastating loss of Carter has not been in vain, as his legacy is forging a brighter, healthier future for many rural British Columbians. In the future, Carter’s Project is aiming to continue providing communities with this technology, and hoping to partner with provincial health authorities in order to broaden the scope and impact of their work.
How to Increase Air Quality Awareness in Your Community
Step 1: Get Familiar with Local Air Quality Resources
Find your Nearest Air Quality Monitor
A number of open-source resources exist for relaying air quality information. Air quality can vary significantly over short distances, so the more sensors in a given area, the better.
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Open-source air quality maps:
Step 2: Connecting Stakeholders
Identify Potential Partners
Contact organizations in your area who might be suitable for hosting an air-quality education event. Doctors and Nurses for Planetary Health Kootenay Boundary organized Nelson’s first DIY air-cleaner workshop in 2025.
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Potential Community Partners:
- Schools and colleges
- Clinics and care-homes
- Running, cycling or exercise clubs
- Local climate organizations
Step 3: Funding & Organizing
Find Funding & Materials
Funding for monitors and DIY air-cleaner supplies can come from a variety of sources, including fundraising as a community or applying for grants from organizations or local government. TB Vets, an organization that supports BC communities through respiratory research, education and medical equipment, partnered with Carter’s Project this year and provided them with some financial support. Carter’s Project conducts three fundraising events per year and relies on donors to support their work.
Click for Funding Ideas ↓
Grant Opportunities
Step 4: Learning from Challenges
Mitigating Issues
Event promotion in small communities can be challenging, but the organizers of Carter’s Project emphasized the power of community networks and word of mouth for spreading the word about their town-halls and workshops, as well as reaching out to community leaders to establish a relationship.
Tech issues also arose, such as finding a reliable wifi connection needed to share the data collected by outdoor air quality monitors, especially in more remote locations. Installing an air quality monitor off-grid is also possible!
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Addressing Technology Issues
- Front-load instructions to community members, by providing take-home material about the devices
- Make workshops immersive and collaborative, so community members can learn hands-on how to check their air-quality, build air-cleaners, and set up their in-home devices
- Create fridge magnets or stickers with QR codes and website links to the air-quality monitoring sites that are nearest and most appropriate for your area
- Encourage local facilities such as schools or libraries, to display the local AQI (air quality index) and rating (good/fair/poor) on their electronic message board
Step 5: Building & Installation
Build a DIY Indoor Air-cleaner
Check out this video by SFU’s Breathe Project to learn how to make a DIY air cleaner, that you can share with your community or use in your home. It’s important to keep your community aware that even outside of fire season, risks are still present—woodsmoke from heating your home is another prevalent health hazard, so having indoor monitors in place, teaching people to check them every day if not multiple times per day, is a vital step to protecting lung health. The US Environmental Protection Agency has a guide for helping choose an outdoor or indoor air sensor.
Click for a Supplies List ↓
What you need to build a DIY air cleaner:
- Clean, 20×20″ box fan
- 20×20″ MERV 13 air filter
- Duct tape
- Scissors or box cutter
References
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Medford-Kerr, Marcus. “Her Son Died of Asthma. Now Kids Get Lessons on Surviving Smoky Skies, in His Name.” CBC Radio, October 18, 2025. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/whatonearth/carter-project-bc-mother-teaching-kids-about-air-quality-9.6943130.
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TB Vets. “Remembering Carter — Why Clean Air Now Matters More Than Ever.” TB Vets, 2023. Accessed October 25, 2025. https://www.tbvets.org/impact_stories/remembering-carter-why-clean-air-now-matters-more-than-ever/.
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Medford-Kerr, Marcus. “Her Son Died of Asthma. Now Kids Get Lessons on Surviving Smoky Skies, in His Name.” CBC Radio, October 18, 2025. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/whatonearth/carter-project-bc-mother-teaching-kids-about-air-quality-9.6943130.