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CEO Message – December 2023

Seasons Greetings!

We are in full swing to go out of 2023 with a blast!

The Jingle Bell Build contest is in its final stages. We had a lot of fun in Orchard Park mall recently selling gingerbread kits and showcasing the fantastic display of the entries from our corporate competitors.  As well as the display getting lots of attention, Gingy was also very popular with the shoppers!

Now we have entries for the photo contest. Please take a moment to visit our voting site to place your votes for your favorite creations, you could make a dream come true for the lucky winner of the PlayStation 5 that’s up for grabs!

If you follow us on the social media channels you may have noticed that the online 50/50 is already over $50,000!!!  You still have time to buy tickets and boost this amazing amount even higher.  I can’t wait to make the phone call to the winner on December 19th and truly make their Christmas very, very, merry.

Our first bottle drive of 2024 is taking place on the 6th January.  This fundraiser has been very successful in raising funds for our build and every cent is invested in the new homes we are building.

We recently announced that from January 2024 we will be working more closely with our neighbouring affiliate in Southeast B.C.  Due to the retirement of the existing Executive Directors retirement, we are taking the opportunity to share more services and increase our collaboration to gain efficiencies and serve more families.

On that note, we have reached the installation stage of the homes in Lake Country and the exterior siding is also being installed.  In January we are expecting the cabinets to arrive and we will soon be welcoming team builds to help us on site with the interior finishing jobs. A big thank you to all the volunteers that have been on site to help with the clean up, you have helped immensely to keep our site clean and most importantly safe.

This time of year, our thoughts turn gratefully to the staff, customers, shoppers and donors who make our success possible.

We thank you for all that you do and wish you the best this holiday season and in 2024!

Andrea Manifold
CEO Habitat Okanagan