Articles tagged "Â黨´«Ã½Foundation"
Thorpe and Friends celebrate 100th student award
April 16, 2025
Okanagan College Foundation is celebrating a significant milestone in philanthropic giving. Two students — Keira Chevallier and Angelina Sebastian — both in the Health Care Assistant program, received awards from Rick and Yasmin Thorpe and friends whose generosity has now supported over 100 students in total.“When we started these awards nearly 20 years ago our goal was to reach 100 students,†shared Rick Thorpe at a ceremony marking the achievement yesterday.“We couldn’t have done this without the support of our friends. Everything...
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GeoVerra’s gift helps students navigate futures in engineering  
April 14, 2025
Future civil engineers at Okanagan College (OC) are getting a high-tech boost, thanks to a generous donation from GeoVerra.GeoVerra has donated six global navigation satellite survey (GNSS) systems, valued at $77,900, to OC’s Civil Engineering Technology program. This cutting-edge equipment ensures students, like first-year learner Lane Wiebe, gain practical, hands-on experience with tools they'll use in today’s technologically advanced construction industry.“Knowing that companies like GeoVerra are invested in our success is p...
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Final stretch: $1M left to cross finish line for Thrive Here campaign
March 27, 2025
Kelowna Auto Dealers Association donates $200k in support of Recreation and Wellness CentreThe home stretch is now in sight for the Thrive Here fundraising campaign for a Recreation and Wellness Centre on Okanagan College’s (OC’s) Kelowna campus.The Â黨´«Ã½Foundation is celebrating $13 million raised towards the $14 million goal thanks to amazing support from the community including a $200,000 donation from the Kelowna Auto Dealers Association (KADA). “This is a meaningful project for us to support,†says Sam Ghessesow, KADA ...
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Belonging through sport
March 11, 2025
Having grown up in small-town Manitoba, Ryan Powers knew everyone. So, at 17 years old, he remembers how daunting it felt to move out of the comforts of his hometown to Kelowna, where he really didn’t know anyone, to attend Okanagan College (OC).Powers recalls that what made the transition easier was knowing he would be joining the Â黨´«Ã½Coyotes baseball team.“At my first practice I met 50 of my best friends,†recalls Powers, who has been playing on the Coyotes baseball team for three years while pursuing a bachelor of business adminis...
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Giving Tuesday raises $12K for student food security
December 18, 2024
Thanks to a number of generous donations from Â黨´«Ã½faculty, staff and our community, the shelves in OC’s student union food banks and the KLO community fridge will be well stocked for the holidays. Okanagan College Foundation’s Giving Tuesday food drive inspired hundreds of donated food items and cash donations totalling more than $12,000 in support of student food security through November and December. This includes a $5,000 donation from the Okanagan College Faculty Association (OCFA). Donations made to the Student ...
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Â黨´«Ã½Foundation distributes over $500,000 in student awards for fall semester
December 4, 2024
For Lucas Weigert, receiving awards was the moment he knew he had made the right choice to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor.Weigert, a second year Associate of Science student, was a student speaker at Okanagan College’s (OC) Kelowna Awards Celebration November 21. The event was one of three held in November that saw more than $550,000 distributed to Â黨´«Ã½students across the region.Weigert is completing his first two years of his undergraduate degree at Â黨´«Ã½before pursuing medical school.“When you’re constantly studying you can ha...
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Community rallies for recreation: Thrive Here campaign hits major fundraising milestone
November 27, 2024
Thanks to a number of passionate individuals and organizations, the finish line for the Thrive Here campaign to build a gymnasium at Okanagan College is now in sight.The Okanagan College (OC) Foundation is announcing it has raised $12 million towards its $14-million goal to build a Recreation and Wellness Centre on the Kelowna campus.“It is truly a team effort by our community to make this centre a reality,†says Helen Jackman, executive director of the Â黨´«Ã½Foundation.“We want to thank everyone who has selflessly donated to help us g...
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Vernon community help Sunflower Childcare Centre blossom into reality
November 13, 2024
When Clara Cheung gets ready to travel to Okanagan College (OC) each morning, she now is able to do so with her two-year-old son Pak Sen in tow.Clara is on her way to attend class at the Vernon campus; Pak Sen is about to enter the campus’s new childcare centre.The Sunflower Childcare Centre / smúkwaʔxn̓ scəcəmalla itskn snmaʔmayaʔtn on OC’s Vernon campus opened at the start of October, creating much-needed new childcare spaces for student parents, faculty and community members.“For me, this centre has made a huge impact on my ...
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Okanagan College alum gives $25K to power of sport
November 8, 2024
‘Sport teaches you to handle any challenge,’ says Kelly LoudounKelly Loudoun has no regrets when he looks back at his decision to attend Okanagan College (OC) and study business, graduating with a Bachelor of Business Administration Honours.“You can’t deny the power of the Â黨´«Ã½business degree,†says Loudoun, who owns Loudoun Construction and Development, now in its fifth year.“Being an entrepreneur is difficult and it’s a lot of hard work. Having been through those challenging experiences and lean years, it becomes quite rewarding as...
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Local endurance athlete and Â黨´«Ã½grad shares insights on sport as keynote speaker at alumni AGM
September 10, 2024
Â黨´«Ã½Alumni Association kick-off new season with a $25,000 gift to new Recreation and Wellness Centre, encourage all alumni to pledge supportKELOWNA - For ultra-athlete Nick Pelletier, whose adventures have included everything from jumping through the sky to swimming for almost three days straight, if there’s one thing that’s shaped his life – it’s the power of sport.Pelletier, who studied Business and Marketing at Okanagan College from 2016-2019, will be sharing his personal story about the impact of sports for him at the upcoming OC...
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Tom Dyck joins Â黨´«Ã½Foundation Board of Directors
August 20, 2024
The Okanagan College Foundation is pleased to welcome Tom Dyck, who is joining its Board of Directors for a four-year term. Tom is a retired senior executive who has worked in banking at a national and international level for a large part of his career. We asked Tom to share what motivated him to volunteer his time and how education has transformed his own life.What inspired you to join the Okanagan College Foundation board of directors?The types of skills people learn at Okanagan College are in such demand and are just not pro...
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Paddle fundraiser raises over $29,000 for Sunflower Childcare Centre
July 25, 2024
On July 20th, Kristin (Postill) Holomis and her team paddled the length of Kalamalka Lake (18km) in support of the Okanagan College Foundation’s Sunflower childcare campaign, raising more than $29,000 in just a few weeks.“Stand Up For†is an annual local fundraising effort by Kristin Holomis and Brittney Page where they paddleboard the length of Kalamalka Lake in support of a chosen charity. This year they paddled for OC’s new Sunflower Childcare Centre, located on the Vernon campus. Scheduled to open in September, The Sunflower Chi...
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Community leader shares personal story of how sport transformed her life
July 23, 2024
Paula Quinn was only seven years old when she first stepped onto a running track but that experience with athletics dramatically changed her life.Quinn is the former Executive Director of the KF Aerospace Centre for Excellence and is active in the Kelowna community sitting on four volunteer boards including the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce, Regional District of Central Okanagan, B.C. Cancer Foundation and the Airport Advisory Committee.Quinn is now among a growing number of local residents putting their support behind the Thrive Here...
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Okanagan College celebrates ‘construction kick off’ for Recreation and Wellness Centre
June 20, 2024
There was jumping, cartwheels and a full crowd of cheering spectators on Thursday at Okanagan College to mark an exciting milestone that will transform student life at Â黨´«Ã½for years to come.Kelowna Cheer Athletics was on hand to help the Okanagan College Foundation celebrate a major fundraising achievement - they’ve raised $10 million for the Thrive Here campaign, and construction can kick off for the future home of the College’s Recreation and Wellness Centre. “Today is a very meaningful day,†remarked Helen Jackman, exec...
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Recsky gift to Recreation and Wellness Centre honours family passion
May 7, 2024
If there was anyone who would understand the need for a Recreation and Wellness Centre at Okanagan College (OC), it would be Alex Recsky.Recsky was hired as OC’s first recreation and intramurals programmer in 1986. It was a job he loved and pursued with passion until his retirement 10 years later, introducing thousands of students to sports and recreational opportunities.Now, Alex’s family are honoring him and his wife Ruth, who are both in their 90s, with a $30,000 donation to the Thrive Here campaign for the Recreation and Wellnes...
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Major gift from BMO to support community progress is worth smiling about
April 9, 2024
A major gift from BMO will support community dental care while making it easier for more people to train to become in-demand Certified Dental Assistants (CDAs).BMO is giving $250,000 to Okanagan College’s (OC) Our Students, Your Health campaign in support of the CDA program. OC’s state-of-the-art dental suite, used for training and as a community clinic, will receive $150,000. An additional $100,000 will be used to kickstart a hands-on learning pilot program that will enable people to become CDAs while they continue to work.In...
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