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Charity
No one to organize this year’s Terry Fox Run in Vernon
VERNON - Vernon does not yet have an organizer for this year’s Terry Fox Run, and that’s putting the event in jeopardy on its 35th anniversary. The Terry Fox Foundation is spreading the word there is currently no run organizer in Vernon after the previous volunteer stepped down for work and personal reasons. The event...
Kelowna charity sending aid to Nepal
KELOWNA – A local charity that helps marginalized children around the world is collecting funds for displaced residents of Nepal after the worst earthquake to hit the country in nearly a century. The 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck near the capital of Kathmandu Saturday, April 25. The most recent numbers show more than 4,600 dead, but with...
ReStore opens Kelowna location
KELOWNA – After a very successful year in West Kelowna, Habitat for Humanity has opened another ReStore in the Central Okanagan, this time in Kelowna. Executive Director Deb Guthrie says the Kelowna ReStore, which takes in items donated from the public, resells them and uses the profits to build homes for families in need, is even bigger...
Mamas for Mamas to host charity gala
KELOWNA – A fast growing group of Okanagan moms who provide help and support for other moms in the area will hold their first ever fundraising gala this fall. And they are looking to the public for help with auction items. Mamas for Mamas founder Shannon Christensen says the group has grown so quickly that...
Run Like the Irish to raise money for charity
KELOWNA – Despite the dreary weather conditions there were lots of smiling faces for the first annual Run Like the Irish walk and run in Kelowna today. The Kelowna Professional Firefighters’ Chartable Society event on the Mission Creek Greenway, Saturday, March 14, raises money for local charities, according to the organization’s website. “100 per cent...
Charitable concern fulfills daily need in the city
PENTICTON - The Christmas season and the accompanying generosity and goodwill that goes along with it has been over for a couple of months now, but that doesn’t mean the need for charity has diminished in the community. Whether its Christmas or not, those in need can continue to count on the Penticton Community Soupateria...
Lahey and Randy from Trailer Park Boys in Kelowna this week
KELOWNA – Two beloved actors from the Canadian cult TV show The Trailer Park Boys are coming to Kelowna Thursday. The actors who play the drunken trailer park manager Jim Lahey and his burger-loving, beer-bellied sidekick Randy will be making an appearance at Kelowna’s Habitat Feb. 19 at 9 p.m. The 'adults only' show will...
Local support group for mamas growing fast
KELOWNA – Shannon Christensen’s house isn’t cluttered with old baby things. She’s given them all away. She’s the founder of a relatively new non-profit organization that started in Kelowna last April. Mamas for Mamas is a network of caring mothers who look out for each other and give support whenever it’s needed. Since starting in...
How local Mamas helped a new Kelowna family overcome misfortune
KELOWNA – When Nelly Barclay talks about her family’s first week in Kelowna, she starts to cry. A new, non-profit group called Mamas for Mamas came to their aid when an accident left the family with little else but the clothes they were wearing. “I can’t even put it into words,” she says. “I can...
Upper Room Mission back in business
VERNON – Almost 8 weeks after a devastating flood closed the doors at Vernon’s Upper Room Mission, the facility reopens Monday, Jan. 26. A pipe burst on the top floor of the soup kitchen on 27 Avenue Dec. 2, setting off the sprinkler system and doing major damage. “Our first meal will be served at...
Okanagan Landing firefighters leave lasting legacy
VERNON - The Okanagan Landing Volunteer Firefighters Association may not be fighting fires anymore, but it’s found a way to continue its longstanding tradition of community service. When its fire contract with the City of Vernon wasn’t renewed in 2012, members began dissolving the association and transferring funds to non-profits. “We looked at number of...
This volunteer organization has less than one week to meet its goal
KAMLOOPS - Staff at Developing World Connections, an international volunteer organization, is asking for Aeroplan mile donations to help them offset travel costs for their work abroad. “Using donated Aeroplan Miles for our travel needs allows more donor funds to directly reach communities in need and project beneficiaries,” Sarah Johnstone from Developing World Connections says....
‘Tis the season to donate time and money
KELOWNA – It’s not only retailers counting on the holiday season to push the bottom line into the black. People open up their wallets and schedules for charities in greater numbers at Christmas time. It’s no different in Kelowna. You probably saw the Salvation Army Christmas Kettle Campaign volunteers outside local retail shops. The money they...
Vernon RCMP get in the spirit of giving
VERNON - Between attending car accidents on winter roads, looking for missing people, and investigating criminal cases, Vernon police officers are finding time to give back to the community this holiday season. Vernon RCMP officer Cpl. Yannick Lescarbeau, along with several hockey coaches and managers, organized a charity hockey tournament in support of the Sick...
Christmas dinner comes with a gift bag at Gospel Mission this year
KELOWNA – Christmas is the second busiest time of the year for the Kelowna Gospel Mission and this year more than 50 volunteers were on hand Saturday for their annual Christmas dinner. As was the case in years past, the Mission served around 600 dinners to hundreds of hungry residents between noon and 6 p.m....
How you can give back to the community at Christmas
KAMLOOPS - The holidays are meant to be a time for celebrating but for many people the holidays are even more of a struggle. There are dozens of charities in the city that aim to help those who are struggling right now and throughout the year but here we offer a look at ones that...
Charity comes easy to this Kelowna family
KELOWNA – For the third year in a row a Mission family is showing that charity doesn’t have to be a lot of hard work. For the past two years, the de Haas family have partnered with a local pizza shop to donate more than a dozen pizzas they take to school and offer to...
Cops cram cruiser in Lake Country
LAKE COUNTRY – A sure sign Christmas can’t be far away; the Cram the Cruiser event was held in Lake Country on Saturday. The third annual event, put on by the Mounties from Kelowna and Lake Country, has been declared a huge success. The officers and RCMP volunteers invited the pubic to come cram a...
You can help build a Lake Country food bank with this simple gesture
LAKE COUNTRY – The food bank in Lake Country is asking for the public’s help winning a national competition that could put them one step closer to a much-needed new facility. The Aviva Community Fund is a Canada-wide contest soliciting community votes for ideas put forward by local non-profits and the winner gets a cash...
Business Gives Back fundraising luncheon taking a year off
PENTICTON - Organizers of Penticton's Business Gives Back are taking a year off as Gitta Schoenne and the three other members of the board find themselves too busy for the undertaking this year. “I've been in charge of it for 18 years,” Schoenne says, confident of its return in years to come. “We’ve all just...
HELSTON: A small act of kindness will go a long way this Christmas
I’ll admit it; I tend to get my back up when I'm asked for money. My instinct is to terminate the uncomfortable conversation as quickly as possible with a ‘no, not today’ or some other firm, but polite, way of communicating the cause is not getting my hard earned cash. But I’m going to tell...
Hollywood glamour promised for Arts Awards Gala
KAMLOOPS – The short list of nominee’s and the theme have been announced for the Mayor’s Gala for the Arts in January. The Mayor’s Awards for the Arts will be handed out in three categories: Business in the Arts, Emerging Artist and Literary Arts. Business in the Arts 4 Cats Art Studio Academy of Dance...
Get your jingle on; Christmas Kettle campaign underway
KELOWNA – There may not be much snow around to get you into the holiday spirit, but the sound of jingling bells might help as the annual Salvation Army Christmas Kettle campaign gets underway. Local politicians and celebrities gathered at Kelowna’s Walmart on Friday to take a shift at the kettle outside the department store....
Blanket drive keeps everyone warm this winter
PENTICTON - If you’re keeping warm under a blanket this winter, consider giving an extra to a person in need by donating to the local, annual blanket drive. This is the fifth year of the Cover with Kindness Blanket Drive, which was started by Greg Litwin, a notary public and director of the Soupateria in...