Community Support
OC Foundation and Jane Hoffman Realty present Season’s Eatings, a virtual cooking class fundraiser
November 17, 2020
On Dec. 3, fire up your oven and your laptop to join a festive, virtual cooking class and wine tasting fundraiser. The Ƶ Foundation and Coldwell Banker Jane Hoffman Realty are presenting OC Cooks: Season’s Eatings, with ticket sales benefitting the Our Students, Your Health campaign to complete a new Health Sciences Centre on the College’s Kelowna campus. “Season’s Eatings is an opportunity to come together virtually, enjoy good wine and cook alongside the College’s award-winning chefs,” says Ƶ Foundation Exe...
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Jacobs support frontline health care education with a major gift
November 13, 2020
Touring Ƶ’s new Health Sciences Centre and seeing the modern education spaces that will help attract and retain health care professionals compelled a well-known Kelowna family to give a major gift. Mike and Kim Jacobs are donating $80,000 to the Our Students, Your Health campaign to support the completion of the $18.9 million Health Sciences Centre. The state-of-the-art Centre will educate eight frontline health care professions. “It’s incredible to see such a modern facility with all the technology and great detail put int...
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College hosting region-wide virtual open house
October 16, 2020
Participants eligible for $5,000 tuition giveaway While the pandemic means prospective students can’t stop by to explore campuses physically this fall, Ƶ is pulling out all the stops to host an interactive virtual open house to ensure students can still get questions answered. On Sunday, Nov. 8, from 11 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., future students, parents, high school counsellors and anyone looking to learn more about the College and its programs will have a chance to experience OC from the comfort of home. All those interested can...
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TD invests in health care equipment for students
October 15, 2020
A gift from TD Bank will ensure students entering health care professions are practising on state-of-the-art equipment. TD is donating $15,000 to Ƶ’s Our Students, Your Health campaign towards a new Health Sciences Centre on the Kelowna campus. The gift will support new equipment for the nursing lab, which will be used by future Practical Nurses, Registered Nurses and Health Care Assistants. “Part of creating better health outcomes for patients is to provide aspiring health care professionals with the right training, tools,...
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Students thankful for new laptops
October 9, 2020
A donation from Staples Kelowna is helping Ƶ students succeed in an online learning environment. In September, Staples donated laptops to eight students who do not have access to the technology needed to successfully participate and complete their programs online. Bree Edler was one of the recipients to receive a new Asus computer. “I’m in shock. I’ve never received anything like this before so I feel very fortunate,” says Edler. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Edler was a travel agent. With international travel ground t...
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Co-op Q&A with Salmon Arm Economic Development Society’s Lana Fitt
October 5, 2020
Meet Lana Fitt, the Salmon Arm Economic Development Society’s Economic Development Manager. In partnership with the College’s Salmon Arm campus, SAEDS hired three OC students over the summer of 2020, aiding a new initiative called the Digital Transitions Program. Ƶ sat down with Fitt to hear her perspective as Manager and having students take part in Co-op education with SAEDS as well as the launch of the Digital Transitions Program in Salmon Arm.. Ƶ...
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Geologist donates more than 100k to students
October 5, 2020
From the origins of the Okanagan Valley to the complexities of the Mount Boucherie volcano, a geologist has turned his passion for local geology into a major monetary deposit for students. Murray Roed is the author and co-author of five best-selling geology books on the Okanagan. For the last 25 years, he and the other book contributors have given 100 per cent of the proceeds to students at Ƶ and the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO). With the latest donation of $5,000, the authors have given more than $100,000...
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Harvesting help needed: Enactus OC students invite community to join them in picking apples for a good cause
September 30, 2020
A group of Ƶ business students are putting the call out for volunteers from OC and the community to help them harvest fruit that will be used to make healthy snacks for children and others in need. Started in the fall of 2018, FruitSnaps is a Vernon- and Penticton-based project, which sees Enactus OC students partnering with the North Okanagan Valley Gleaners Society facility, where unused apples from local orchards are dehydrated into snacks for local schools. The FruitSnaps team will be hosting small, physically-distanced...
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OC’s 12th Annual Youth Exhibition Powwow goes virtual this year
September 29, 2020
When the pandemic struck, organizers of the popular Youth Exhibition Powwow at Ƶ in Kelowna knew they would have to adapt. Each year, for the past 11 years, the event has drawn crowds of hundreds – sometimes more than a thousand – to OC’s courtyard for a day of celebrating, learning about and engaging with Indigenous knowledge and culture. Over the course of a fun-filled day, dancers and accompanying drummers from across the B.C. interior perform in a variety of dance categories including grass, fancy, chicken, jingle and t...
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New members of OC Board
September 28, 2020
Two new area residents have been appointed to Ƶ’s Board of Governors. Andrea Alexander, a Councillor with the Westbank First Nation, and JoAnn Fowler, an Enderby resident who is a mentor for new social workers with the Ministry of Children and Family Development, have been appointed for one-year terms to the Board. “I’m looking forward to working with Andrea and JoAnn, who bring a tremendous depth of experience working with and serving communities in the region,” notes Gloria Morgan, the Chair of the Board of Governors, who...
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New OC business program creates more real-world learning for budding entrepreneurs
September 24, 2020
Ƶ’s School of Business is launching a new program that will teach entrepreneurship and business in a way most business owners would say is key to learning – by doing. The Experiential Entrepreneurship program will offer an entrepreneurship specialty to the College’s Bachelor of Business Administration degree. Modelled after a long-running and highly successful program at the College’s partner school in Finland, JAMK University of Applied Sciences, the Experiential Entrepreneurship program will see business students design, ...
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OC alumnus attempts World Record, doubles fundraising goal
September 15, 2020
While debilitating chafing sunk OC alumnus Nick Pelletier’s hopes of breaking the Guinness World Record for fastest swim of Lake Okanagan from Vernon to Penticton, it didn’t stop him from more than doubling his fundraising goal. In addition to the swim being a personal challenge, Pelletier was also raising funds to help support BrainTrust Canada’s Youth Concussion Clinic which provides youth aged five to 25 years old who struggle with concussions and cannot afford any services or resources to support their recovery. “This cause is close t...
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Pandemic teaches importance of caring for one another
August 21, 2020
Eric Pruijs was in the first month of his Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) program when COVID-19 resulted in classes being cancelled temporarily and quickly moved online. “I felt alone when this was happening,” recalls Eric, who had saved up to take the program but still planned on working part-time to get by. “I was worried about my finances and how it was going to work out. I needed to find ways to support myself.” Eric considered leaving the program to focus on finding w...
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Award winner is teaching young people to crunch numbers
August 21, 2020
Erum Ahmad is creating an opportunity for Vernon high school students to improve their financial literacy skills, an experience she wished she had during grade school. The fourth-year Ƶ Vernon Bachelor of Business Administration (Accounting) student remembers being disappointed when she learned her high school didn’t offer any accounting classes. So Erum took it upon herself to create and teach a program to Clarence Fulton Secondary students in Vernon this past year...
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Major Rotary gift supports nursing education
August 10, 2020
A $100,000 gift from the Rotary Club of Kelowna Foundation Reichwald Fund will support the education of Registered Nurses (RNs) at Kelowna’s major post-secondary institutions. Ƶ and the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO) are each receiving $50,000 to support high-quality skills training and provide financial support for students in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program. “We are thrilled to support our future health care workers in Kelowna and throughout the Valley,” says Catherine Comben, Rotary Club ...
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New accessibility initiative launched to support OC students facing co-op barriers
July 14, 2020
Co-op has long been a staple of the Ƶ experience, offering students from a variety of study areas the chance to gain job experience and practical training in the workplace. But what happens when a student faces accessibility barriers in finding work? Ƶ’s Accessibility Initiative and survey, run by members of the College’s Student Services team, seeks to break down those barriers. The project received funding from the B.C. Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills and Training for work integrated learning initiati...
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