Community Support
community steps up to support wildfire efforts
August 24, 2023
The community has been busy this week, stepping up to support wildfire efforts in their communities and supporting friends, family and neighbours in many different ways. The cancellation of this week’s Connections event at Okanagan College, an event led by employees to kick off a new school year, meant some timely donations of lunches and snacks went out to people who are supporting the wildfire efforts in the Okanagan Valley. It was just one example of the many efforts the community has undertaken in their communities...
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$40,000 gift creates lasting tribute to former Okanagan University College Professor Dr. Sylvia Janet Russell
June 27, 2023
In her twenty-year tenure as a history professor at Okanagan University College (the predecessor to Okanagan College), Dr. Sylvia Janet Russell breathed life into bustling classrooms, transforming them into vibrant hubs of knowledge and inspiration. Now in a fitting tribute to her legacy, an anonymous $40,000 gift will establish a bursary fund in her honour. The Dr. Sylvia Janet Russell Memorial Fund will provide bursaries to students who have fulfilled the graduation requirements for Okanagan College’s Associate of Arts diploma - ...
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Plant a Seed Day fundraiser sprouts an impressive $66,000 in gifts for the new Sunflower Childcare Centre on OC's Vernon Campus
May 17, 2023
Okanagan College Foundation is thrilled to announce the success of Plant a Seed Day, a fun-filled, family-friendly fundraiser that, thanks to generous community support, raised $66,000 for the Sunflower Childcare Centre. The funds will be put towards equipment, furnishings, supplies, and a creative outdoor space where kids can learn and play. Event guests had the opportunity to experience child-led yoga, sunflower-themed art classes, country line dancing, and a delicious lemonade crawl – all made possible thanks to generous sponsor...
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Sowing the seeds for a better future for student parents in Vernon
April 28, 2023
College Foundation hosts fundraiser for new Sunflower Childcare Centre Sunflowers blooming, the promise of new beginnings, and brighter futures for student parents in Vernon will be the focus of Okanagan College Foundation’s upcoming Plant a Seed Day Fundraiser. The fun-filled event will take place on May 10, between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. and will support the new, affordable, 44-seat on-campus Sunflower Childcare Centre, operated by local, non-profit childcare provider Maven Lane. Guests will be invited to “tap into their inne...
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Bridging the way to success: Emil Anderson Construction gives $75,000 to modernize Okanagan College’s Civil Engineering Technology Program
April 17, 2023
If you walk past Okanagan College’s Kelowna campus on a weekday afternoon, you’re sure to see Civil Engineering Technology students spread out across the grounds, gathering environmental data using surveying equipment. This skill is essential to their education and will one day help them shape our built environments. Thanks to a generous $75,000 gift from Emil Anderson Construction, students will have increased access to state-of-the-art surveying equipment to train on by fall of 2023. “We are proud to support Okanagan College’s Ci...
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Inspire at Revelstoke: Volunteer to Tutor
April 4, 2023
One of the ongoing programs the Revelstoke Centre of Okanagan College is proud to continuously offer is the Volunteer Literacy Tutoring program. Melissa Jameson, a resident of Revelstoke since 2007 whom some may recognize from her work at Community Connections, or more recently the civic affairs reporter for the Revelstoke Mountaineer, has been the volunteer coordinator for the program since October 2022. Jameson has been struggling to match several learners with tutors and wonders if there is a misconception about what the tutor po...
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Ready, Set, Grow! Okanagan College Foundation kicks off its Sunflower Childcare Centre Campaign with an inspiring event at the Vernon Campus
March 15, 2023
Enthusiastic young volunteers led games and activities at the launch of Okanagan College Foundation’s $1.25 million campaign in support of a new on-campus childcare centre, planned to open in the fall of 2024. Held on Mar. 1 at OC’s Vernon campus, the event drew 65 guests and celebrated the kickoff of the Sunflower Childcare Centre fundraising campaign. Donor and former College instructor Lloyd Davies spoke about his family’s decision to contribute $500,000 to the cause. "Time and again, I would have students missing class, ...
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Understanding Ableism: Join us for an Anti-Ableism presentation by Spring Hawes at Kelowna on Jan. 19
January 13, 2023
A group of Okanagan College students and employees are further advancing conversation and action around anti-ableism and accessibility at this winter through an upcoming talk and series of follow-up events. Okanagan College Kelowna’s Accessibility Alliance invites the community to attend an anti-ableism presentation by entrepreneur and advocate Spring Hawes on January 19 from noon -2:30 p.m. in the Centre for Learning Atrium (E Building). In her presentation Hawes will...
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Prospera gives big in support of Women in Trades at Okanagan College
November 28, 2022
More women will get a chance to lace up their work boots and take the first step in a career in trades, thanks to a recent $79,660 gift from Prospera to a program at Okanagan College that has already trained over 1,300 women since it was founded. The Women in Trades Training program was created to remove barriers for women interested in pursuing trades education and help meet the community’s surging need for skilled trades professionals. “These bursaries and added equipment provide opportunities for women to pursue t...
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Thorpe and Friends Scholarship recognizes two Okanagan College students
October 26, 2022
Local students say the generosity of two prominent Penticton philanthropists is helping them take the next steps in their education. Since 2006, former MLA Rick Thorpe and his wife Yasmin John-Thorpe, along with their friends, have given more than $160,000 in scholarships to students in need at Okanagan College’s Penticton Campus. Two of this year’s recipients, Wylie Rowan and Mattias Van Bergeyk, received $2,500 to put toward their education. Both students are Summerland Secondary School grads in their first year of studie...
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Throat-singing duo PIQSIQ to perform at OC's Penticton campus
October 18, 2022
Okanagan College joins forces with Route97 Culture to present fast-rising throat singing duo – PIQSIQ in Penticton Live music will return to Okanagan College's Penticton campus this November 4, 2022, for students and music fans alike. In collaboration with the Route97 Culture Road Trip series, Okanagan College will co-present the debut of PIQSIQ in the region, who will perform a special concert inside the LEED Platinum-certified building known as the Centre of Excellence in Room 113. You can buy tickets for the show here. With a s...
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TD gives $85,000 to help kids and newcomers access Okanagan College’s Indigenous Garden
October 18, 2022
Hawthorn, wolf willow, and sage are among the traditional plants growing in the garden on the hillside at Okanagan College’s Vernon campus, which this year was visited by more than 250 local school children, thanks to generous support from TD Bank Group. TD’s gift, made earlier in 2022, is funding tours of the K'nmaĺka Senqâĺten - Kalamalka Indigenous garden for children and newcomers to Canada. The garden is located on Okanagan College’s Vernon campus. Okanagan College has already received a portion of the funding; the remainder...
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Kelowna mayoral candidates invited to public debate hosted by Okanagan College, UBC Okanagan
September 20, 2022
Mayoral candidates in Kelowna will speak specifically to issues that matter to university and college students at an on-campus debate at the end of September. Okanagan College and UBC Okanagan have teamed up to host the event, which will be moderated by CBC Radio host Sarah Penton at OC’s lecture theatre on K.L.O. Road. “We are thrilled to be welcoming the candidates, students and the community onto our campus, to hear from the individuals running to be the next mayor of Kelowna,” says Dr. Neil Fassina, president, Okanagan Colle...
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alumna gives back with bursary for high school grads
June 22, 2022
Okanagan College alumna Erum Ahmad has been spending her time teaching Vernon high school students how to be smart with their money. Now, she is giving one of those students a chance to put their learnings into action by creating a bursary to fund the next steps of their educational journey. Erum, who graduated from Okanagan College in 2021, found a passion in sharing financial literacy with high school students after experiencing a lack of financial training herself. “When I was in grade 10, I realized there were no classes to ...
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Convocation stoles featuring Syilx, Secwepemc pictographs honour graduates
June 20, 2022
As Canadians prepare to mark National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21, Okanagan College is recognizing Indigenous graduates in a new and special way. This year for the first time, Indigenous students who cross the stage at convocation and commencement ceremonies are being gifted with a specially designed convocation stole, embroidered with Syilx and Secwepemc pictographs. “On National Indigenous Peoples Day and every day, it is critically important that we remember and appreciate the privilege it is to live, work and play on ...
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Surprise gift from Stober Foundation helps Okanagan College’s new student-led investment fund open for business
April 20, 2022
A trio of Okanagan College Business students envisioned an investment fund that has attracted overwhelming community support, including a generous $40,000 gift from the Stober Foundation. The group began fundraising in January and met their $100,000 seed funding goal in record time. Riley Dunsmore and Steven Fiust, both Business students, along with recent alumnus Justin Rantucci, created the Okanagan College Student Investment Fund to give students experiential learning opportunities and benefit future students with bursaries ...
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