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By Corey Fischer
Campaign Opens For Child Care Centre

Campaign Opens For Child Care Centre

Jan 23, 2019 | 12:00 PM

Fundraising has begun for a new child care centre set to open this summer in the Whitevale area near Lumby.

The Bridge Educational Society is ready to break ground on an Early Years Centre on a farm-forest property which will create spaces for 63 children; infants, preschoolers and school-aged children from throughout the North Okanagan.

The charity has secured $750,000 in government grants, but needs to raise about that much again for the $1.25 million construction cost.

“This is an exciting step because we know how much the community needs child care right now and we’ve received such strong initial funding support,” says Roxanne Brierley, capital campaign coordinator for The Bridge Educational Society, which established the Okanagan Waldorf School (formerly Cedar Bridge School).

“(We) recognized an opportunity to give young families access to exceptional early childhood education on the same enchanting and enriching rural campus as the school,” says Brierley.

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Rick Fairbairn, RDNO director for Electoral Area ‘D, says the district is “thrilled that this centre will be opening in our area and fully supports what it will mean for the families in our community. We know that the society behind the child care centre strives to provide children with a great grounding that will set them well on the road to success in the future. This benefits the North Okanagan community as a whole.”

The centre hopes to support families with parents working at a number of new and growing businesses in the area, including Vegpro International, Restoration Lands and others.

Lumby Mayor Kevin Acton says he and council are also excited to support the Early Years Centre in their community, which is experiencing a shortage of child care spaces. “This centre will only make Lumby and the North Okanagan as a whole a more desirable place to live and work.”

To find out more about supporting the project and naming opportunities, visit http://www.bridgeeducational.org/early-years-centre/.

by Corey Fischer

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