Community Support
ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē student chefs supporting community
August 25, 2023
You can call it cooking with love. Students from the Okanagan Chef School at ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē dropped plans this week for a final feast to celebrate the end of their program and jumped into supporting the local emergency response instead. Typically, students at the Okanagan Chef School host a community dinner at the end of their year and one was planned for this week. However, when the event had to be cancelled due to the area wildfires, the students decided to shift their focus to preparing meals for those engaged in the r...
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ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē community steps up to support wildfire efforts
August 24, 2023
The ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē 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 weekās Connections event at ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē, 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 ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē 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 ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē), 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 ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ēās 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 ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē's Vernon Campus
May 17, 2023
ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē 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 ā 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 ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē Foundationās 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 ātap into their inne...
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Bridging the way to success: Emil Anderson Construction gives $75,000 to modernize ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ēās Civil Engineering Technology Program
April 17, 2023
If you walk past ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ēās Kelowna campus on a weekday afternoon, youāre 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. āWe are proud to support ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ēās Ci...
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Inspire at ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē Revelstoke: Volunteer to Tutor
April 4, 2023
One of the ongoing programs the Revelstoke Centre of ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē 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! ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē 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 ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē Foundationās $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 ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ēās 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 familyās 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 ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē Kelowna on Jan. 19
January 13, 2023
A group of ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē students and employees are further advancing conversation and action around anti-ableism and accessibility at ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē this winter through an upcoming talk and series of follow-up events. ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē Kelownaās Accessibility Alliance invites the ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē community to attend an anti-ableism presentation by entrepreneur and advocate Spring Hawes on January 19āÆfrom 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 ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē
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 ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē 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 communityās surging need for skilled trades professionals. āThese bursaries and added equipment provide opportunities for women to pursue t...
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Thorpe and Friends Scholarship recognizes two ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē 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 ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ēās Penticton Campus. Two of this yearās 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 ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē's Penticton campus
October 18, 2022
ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē joins forces with Route97 Culture to present fast-rising throat singing duo ā PIQSIQ in Penticton Live music will return to ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē's Penticton campus this November 4, 2022, for students and music fans alike. In collaboration with the Route97 Culture Road Trip series, ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē 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 ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ēās Indigenous Garden
October 18, 2022
Hawthorn, wolf willow, and sage are among the traditional plants growing in the garden on the hillside at ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ēās Vernon campus, which this year was visited by more than 250 local school children, thanks to generous support from TD Bank Group. TDās gift, made earlier in 2022, is funding tours of the K'nmaÄŗka SenqĆ¢Äŗten - Kalamalka Indigenous garden for children and newcomers to Canada. The garden is located on ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ēās Vernon campus. ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē has already received a portion of the funding; the remainder...
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Kelowna mayoral candidates invited to public debate hosted by ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē, 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. ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē and UBC Okanagan have teamed up to host the event, which will be moderated by CBC Radio host Sarah Penton at ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ēās lecture theatre on K.L.O. Road. āWe 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,ā says Dr. Neil Fassina, president, Okanagan Colle...
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ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē alumna gives back with bursary for high school grads
June 22, 2022
ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē 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 ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē in 2021, found a passion in sharing financial literacy with high school students after experiencing a lack of financial training herself. āWhen 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, ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē is recognizing Indigenous graduates in a new and special way. This year for the first time, Indigenous students who cross the stage at ĀŅĀ×ŗ£½Ē convocation and commencement ceremonies are being gifted with a specially designed convocation stole, embroidered with Syilx and Secwepemc pictographs. āOn 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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