July was a whirlwind of fundraising activity. We held another successful bottle drive in Vernon and our ReStore locations in Kelowna and West Kelowna. In the sweltering heat, staff and since then our volunteers have worked hard to sort, count, and pack the many cans and bottles we received. This event combined raised over $8000, and we are still counting.
Along with that, another event that we ran for the first time was the Habitat Fore Humanity Okanagan Golf Experience raffle. This was supported by 7 golf courses who kindly provided rounds of golf packages. It was great to have the opportunity to be out and about in the community selling the tickets and re-engaging with the public. With the help of volunteers and local businesses the raffle was a great success raising $10,000. Many thanks to everyone that participated in these fundraisers, we can’t do it without these tremendous team efforts.
In August we welcome a new member of staff to the Resource Development department. Meaghan Szpak will be joining the team as the Communications and Marketing Coordinator as well as taking on the volunteer tasks. Meaghan is relocating to Kelowna from Fort McMurry for this position and brings a lot of non-profit experience and skills from her previous roles.
In July we said goodbye to long standing staff member Glenn Hutton. After 5 years with us Glenn is hanging up his boots and retiring. He will be very missed by the West Kelowna staff and volunteers, and we thank him for all his hard work and being a great team player.
The Lake Country build has started to gain a traction again after weeks of delays due to BC Hydro. We have a triplex that is now insulated, has dry wall and with the exterior completed and work has finally started on the other two buildings. It is a great feeling wandering through the site to know that that very soon the buildings will turn into new homes and that finally, families in need of a safe and affordable place of their own, will move in and start a new chapter in their lives as homeowners.
Thank you to everyone that helps us to make this happen.
