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Saturday 20-Jul-2024

Venue

Event Description

“Stand Up For” is an annual local fundraising effort by Brittney Page and Kristin (Postill) Holomis where they paddleboard the length of Kalamalka Lake, around 18km, in support of a chosen charity. This year they will be paddling for the Okanagan College Sunflower Childcare Centre in Vernon. Scheduled to open in September, The Sunflower Childcare Centre aims to address the critical shortage of affordable childcare spaces in the North Okanagan that can prevent parents from pursuing post secondary education. The centre will support 44 kids, specifically 24 infants and 20 three to five year olds. It will be run and managed by well loved and respected Maven Lane, another local non-profit who have been providing high-quality care, education and recreational programming for children in our community since 1994.
The numbers don’t lie. 51 percent of parents are waitlisted for childcare and subsequently spend two years on those waitlists. Many parents' educational ambitions are often delayed or even halted by the shortage of local childcare providers. Staggeringly, parent students who have childcare are 3 times more likely to graduate, allowing them to fulfil their goals and seek better, more stable careers for their young families.
“The Sunflower Childcare Centre is filling this major gap in our community. It will provide the necessary support for student parents who otherwise might not have had access to childcare. This gives them the opportunity at an education that will unlock a better life for them and their families. We’re so fortunate to have this offered in our community and we are proud to be able to support them and their mission.“ says Holomis.
This is the 7th Annual “Stand Up For” fundraising paddle Page and Holomis have led. So far they have raised over $156,000 for the local community with Okanagan Rail Trail Initiative, KidSport Okanagan, The People Place, Archway Society, Starfish Pack and most recently NOYFSS being their past recipients.
“We are so excited to paddle this year for The Sunflower Centre. As a daughter of a single mother with three kids who went back to school while we were young, this is not only something I can relate to but I can personally attest to the better life she was able to provide for us based on her education,” says Page. “The Sunflower Centre will offer this opportunity to students in need and the community will be better for it.”
Funds raised by the paddle will go directly to help outfit the centre with items such as bikes, wooden toys, puzzles, kid’s cots, sensory table, books and bookshelves.
“We are so thrilled that Brittney and Kristin have chosen the Sunflower Childcare Centre as their cause this year. We believe in the power of education, to transform lives, and we know that a big barrier for our parents can be that they do not have safe and affordable childcare. We are so excited for July 20th, and seeing all the smiling and happy faces on the water,” says Sasha Carter, Manager of Advancement for Okanagan College Foundation.
As always Holomis and Page have set a lofty goal of raising $25,000 in just a few weeks. But both women who have played professional sports globally now once again call the Okanagan home are here for the challenge. Friends since elementary school, they say it’s important to them to support the community that helped shape their youth and focus the paddle each year on charities benefiting women, children and youth.

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