Penticton couple add to PRH support

Nick and Trudy Krabbendam are already generous supporters of Penticton Regional Hospital, having made a $30,000 donation in 2015.

Now the Penticton couple have donated an additional $70,000 to the South Okanagan Similkameen (SOS) Medical Foundation for medical equipment for the PRH expansion, now under construction.

The SOS Medical Foundation has a program in place in which major donors’ names can be linked to rooms and clinics in the new tower for the life of the building.  These room-naming opportunities go a long way in helping the Foundation meet its $20-million fundraising goal for the project.

Both Trudy and Nick were born and raised in Holland, marrying in the 1950s before immigrating to Canada. They eventually owned a refrigeration shop and several other businesses in Chilliwack and Vancouver over the years.

Nick noted one of their more successful business ventures was building stainless steel cabin heaters, barbecues and cooking stoves for sailboats.

“We imported special safety valves from France, which made our line of marine equipment the safest marine appliances for ocean-going sailboats in the world,” Nick said.
Another company was dubbed “The Bathroom Doctor”— refinishing bathtubs while they remained in place in the bathroom. He laughingly recalled being paged: “Dr. Krabbendam, Dr. Krabbendam to the bathroom please, to the bathroom please!”

Nick and Trudy operated a number of other businesses before semi-retiring to Penticton five years ago. Nick still works with various clients he has dealt with over the years, including some from his successful mortgage business.

Nick wasn’t the only hard-working person in the family. Trudy did a lot of accounting work for their businesses and ran a bed and breakfast in Vancouver for eight years – including during Expo 86.

Now the Krabbendams proudly call Penticton “home” and have been strong supporters of the SOS Medical Foundation’s PRH campaign.

“We have not done too badly in our lives, so we felt we could spare some money,” Nick said. “We hope other people in this beautiful community will follow our lead and also make a donation to help equip our new hospital tower.”

Nick suffers from diabetes. Trudy has required hip surgery and suffered from other health problems which required treatment at PRH over the past couple of years.  “The staff are just marvelous, but they are very busy,” she said.

The Krabbendams have three surviving children, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. One daughter passed away in 2007.

The new six-storey tower at Penticton Regional Hospital will be ready for patients in early 2019, when construction will begin on Phase 2 – a major upgrade of the Emergency Department. For information on donating to the SOS Medical Foundation’s PRH campaign call 250-492-9027 or visit their website sosmedicalfoundation.com.

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