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(Photo credit: Bridge Educational Society)
By Pete McIntyre
North Okanagan

Food bank and education society get B.C. grants for capital projects

Jan 17, 2022 | 1:15 PM

Community services in the Lumby and Cherryville areas are getting a boost courtesy of the province’s community gaming grants program.

Vernon-Monashee MLA Harwinder Sandhu has announced the Bridge Educational Society in Lumby is receiving a $250,000 capital grant to expand its early years centre to meet local demand.

To the east in Cherryville, the Cherryville Community Food Bank Society is getting $96,000 for an addition to their building to meet the growing need for food banks and their newer services.

The capital grants portion of the gaming grant program supports not-for-profits and other community organizations to purchase, build, upgrade, or expand infrastructure that allows them to continue providing services or meet growing demand.

“We are so fortunate in the North Okanagan to have community organizations taking care of people,” said Sandhu, who has been the riding’s MLA since 2020, representing the governing NDP. “The Cherryville Food Bank does such incredible work for people in need, and I’m glad we’re able to support them. And I am incredibly excited that we’re already expanding childcare in Lumby, making sure that families have what they need to thrive.”

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The province distributes up to $140 million in gaming grants each year with the funding coming from gaming revenue. About $5 million of the total is used for capital projects for non-profit organizations.

The full list of capital project recipients is available here.

by Pete McIntyre
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