Okanagan College gets $500,000 Christmas present

KELOWNA – One of the Okanagan’s most successful companies has decided to give Okanagan College an early Christmas present in the form of a $500,000 donation for the Kelowna campus trades training complex.

Kelowna Flightcraft CEO and chairperson Barry Lapointe has handed over a cheque to the Bright Horizons Building for Skills fundraising campaign which is raising money to help pay for the $33-million project.

“I believe that people who have done well in this region should give back,” Lapointe said in a media release. “We feel strongly about supporting post-secondary education.”

The Flightcraft donation was made earlier this week when Premier Christy Clark was in Kelowna.

“Barry sees what’s coming: a shortage of skilled labour, and a tremendous opportunity for trained people,” Premier Clark said. “He has always supported the creation of more education and career opportunities in the Okanagan, culminating in this generous donation.”

So far, the fundraising campaign has collected $3-million in donations. The goal is $7-million. The B.C. government has contributed $28-million for the trades complex under construction at the KLO campus.

It is scheduled to be ready for students by the spring of 2016.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Howard Alexander at halexander@infonews.ca or call 250-491-0331. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.