The anonymous donor behind the Community Foundation of the South Okanagan|Similkameen’s matching program has agreed to extend the deadline.
Now, until Feb. 28, all donations towards the soon-to-open Youth Resource Centre, which will also house the Foundry Penticton, will be matched by the anonymous donor. This matching program began near the end of 2018 and has raised $115,000 (doubled to $230,000) to date.
“We are absolutely thrilled the anonymous donor has decided to extend the matching program until the end of next month. This gives us a little over six weeks to reach the full potential of the doubling initiative, which matches donations 1:1 up to a grand total of $200,000 (from the anonymous donor).” said Aaron McRann, executive director of the Community Foundation South|Similkameen, in a release.
Related: Matching donation campaign for Okanagan youth resource centre may be extended
This initiative is part of the larger Future Starts Here campaign, which began fundraising last June.
“As the fundraising chair I am honored to announce that of the $1.2 million goal, we have raised $900,000!” said Judy Lloyd in a release.
“As a community partner and the lead organization of Foundry Penticton, we are truly amazed by the dedication and support we have received from the community so far. Hearing we have raised $900,000 of our $1.2 million goal is tremendous,” said Ian Gerbrandt, director of Child, Youth and Family Services at OneSky Community Resources. “Construction at Foundry Penticton is coming along very well. I spoke with Chriscan Construction, and the ‘rough in’ will be finished within the next week and the project is on schedule for spring opening.”
Related: Video: Construction begins at Penticton Youth Resource Centre
McRann said in the release that construction in the centre, located at 501 Main St., is on schedule and drywall will be installed within the next few weeks. Many of the rooms within the Foundry Penticton have naming rights available starting at $10,000 and up.
In addition, the Foundry Penticton will feature a donor wall which will provide recognition for all gifts over $5,000.
“Now that the walls are up, it offers a better sense of what the space is going to look like. This is particularly helpful when we offer tours to donors who are interested in sponsoring rooms at Foundry Penticton” said McRann in the release.
For more information about the centre’s rooms and naming rights or to make a donation, contact the Community Foundation of the South Okanagan|Similkameen at 250-493-9311 or visit www.cfso.net/penticton-youth-centre.
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