Darlene McCaffery, President, Branch 26 of The Royal Canadian Legion (second from left), presents $80,000 cheque to Holly Routley, Development Officer, Okanagan College Foundation (centre). (Photo credit: Okanagan College)

By Pete McIntyre

Training facility

Legion poppy sales help fund new health centre

Jun 29, 2022 | 11:30 AM

The Royal Canadian Legion has donated $80,000 from its Poppy Fund to support Okanagan College’s new Health Sciences Centre.

The centre, which is located at Okanagan College’s Kelowna campus, is a state-of-the-art training facility for health and social care students which opened in 2021.

Health Sciences Centre at Okanagan College in Kelowna. (Submitted image)

“We took a building tour and were extremely impressed with the advanced level of training being provided. We believe in the power of education, and we’re proud to invest in the next generation of health care providers,” said Darlene McCaffery, President, Branch 26, The Royal Canadian Legion.

The new centre will allow Okanagan College to educate more students in high-demand areas where critical staffing shortages are expected to grow.

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“We raise money through poppy sales to support veterans and their families. What better way to do that than by ensuring they have access to well-trained health care professionals in their local communities,” McCaffery remarked.

The Okanagan College Foundation has been raising money for the Health Sciences Centre since 2019, generating 4.5-million-dollars towards the cost of the 19-million-dollar facility.

Though the doors are now open to students, community support is still needed to fund several vital pieces of training equipment and to reach the campaign’s 5-million-dollar fundraising goal.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity of the Royal Canadian Legion and the abundance of community support we’ve received. Contributions to the Our Students, Your Health campaign will transform students’ lives and improve the health of communities throughout the Okanagan,” said Helen Jackman, Executive Director, Okanagan College Foundation.