OCNews

For the past 26 years, employees at Okanagan College’s Penticton campus have donated money, grocery gift cards and gifts that go towards Holiday Hampers for students in financial need. This year, we received an unprecedented number of applications; 57 students applied as compared to the usual 20-25. Many of these students have children, aging parents or spouses who they support, so in total this project benefited 123 individuals including 38 children.

We were blown away by the support of our community. Campus employees purchased almost 30 of the 38 presents for children that were requested and donated $1,400 in cash and grocery gift cards. We had previously raised $1,250 from the Taste of India event on campus in November and also received support from the OCSU and Aboriginal services in the form of $500 and $300 in grocery gift cards, respectively. We were further supported by donations from the broader community, including $1,500 from two separate community donors and $200 in gift cards from Real Canadian Superstore.

Messages of gratitude from students poured in over the holiday break, showing how much this project meant to them. In a year where we faced so many challenges, we are proud to have been able to bring a little bit of love and light to these students' homes this season. We want to express our sincere gratitude to all who contributed to make this project a success once again.