![A rendering of the Recreation and Wellness Centre](/sites/default/files/styles/mobile_hero/public/2023-10/OC%20GymnasiumFront.jpg?h=2fab843d&itok=c6zzuWon)
Recreation and Wellness Centre
Give a gift to transform lives
A classroom like no other
It’s where you learn to fall, rise and band together as a team.
Where you learn to put in the work to achieve success. Sport and recreation activities teach and shape us, making us stronger and more resilient.
鶹վб students need a place to come together, overcome obstacles and build confidence and belonging. We need your help to make it a reality.
Give to support the Thrive Here campaign and help build the first gym at OC's Kelowna campus.
You can help students and our community thrive.
![Success thrives here](/sites/default/files/styles/mobile_landscape/public/2024-05/1634922_found_4successstartshere_desktoplandscape_600x400-1.png?h=252f27fa&itok=b_dxkkpY)
Serwa Spirit Match - Your gift is doubled!
Cliff and Lois Serwa are generously matching all donations to the Thrive Here campaign up to $500,000. Double your impact for 鶹վб students and our wider community.
Help students thrive
Give a gift of any size using your credit card and instantly receive your charitable donation receipt from CanadaHelps. Click on the donate button below.
You can make a donation by phone at 250-862-5630.
Cheques can be mailed to:
鶹վб Foundation:
1000 KLO Road
Kelowna, B.C.
V1Y 4X8
Please indicate your support of the Thrive Here campaign in the Subject/Memo line.
Shares and mutual funds are also eligible for tax credits. Click the button below to learn how to transfer shares.
Being on the baseball team while going to school has taught me about dedication while helping improve my time management and leadership skills.
These skills are not only important for success in school and baseball but for my life after I am done at 鶹վб.”
Ryan Powers
OC Coyotes baseball player
Bachelor of Business Administration
![Ryan Powers throwing a pitch at a Coyotes baseball game.](/sites/default/files/styles/mobile_landscape/public/2024-05/Ryanpow.jpg?h=01b60521&itok=teLMEjLA)
“From that first experience on the track, throughout my years focusing on my family and my career, sports was always with me. It gave me the confidence to pursue opportunities and work hard. Those lessons have always stuck with me.”
Read Paula Quinn's story about the transformational role sport played in her life.
![Paula Quinn profile picture](/sites/default/files/styles/mobile_landscape/public/2024-07/img_9802.jpeg?h=83dce768&itok=9aUiuMO2)
Community connection
This spring and summer, OC’s Kelowna campus is celebrating more than 2,000 job ready graduates, each with the potential to transform lives and communities.
Many of our graduates stay in our community to find work, providing the skilled workforce we need in a variety of in-demand sectors including Trades, Health and Social Development and Business to name a few.
Since our inception, more than 60,000 graduates have passed through OC’s campuses in Salmon Arm, Vernon, Penticton and Kelowna, and sites in Revelstoke and Oliver.
![Graduates toss their caps during their June commencement ceremony.](/sites/default/files/styles/mobile_landscape/public/2024-08/ConvoWeb.jpg?h=9e8fbb55&itok=JQoS-39f)
Developing leaders at all levels
At OC, our mission is to help people build the skills and abilities that will be necessary to strengthen the vibrancy, resilience, and sustainability of our region. Skills learned through sport include:
Self-Discipline
Teamwork
Resilience
Strategy
Effective Communication
Collaboration
Help us reach the finish line
Generous donors have already stepped up to the plate to support the $14-million Recreation and Wellness Centre Thrive Here campaign, through generous leadership-level gifts. Through their incredible giving, the OC Foundation has already built a fund of $10 million.
Now, we need to take this effort across the finish line and as a community, raise the remaining $4 million together.
Cliff and Lois Serwa: Honorary Chairs
When approached to support the campaign to build a much-needed Recreation and Wellness Centre at OC, not only did Cliff and Lois step forward and contribute financially, they agreed to become honorary chairs for the campaign.
Without basketball, I would've quit school early and driven a tractor and been quite happy. If I had done that then there may not have been a Big White and I certainly wouldn't have been in politics. It was education that enabled me to be able to get involved in a variety of different fields - but it all started as a focus from my activity in sports."
~ Cliff Serwa
Wellness thrives here
The impact of having a centralized facility cannot be overstated. It will be the “living room” of the campus where we can all gather; to join in cheering on our OC Coyotes teams, practicing mindfulness or celebrating the success of our graduating students.
- Intramural sports
- OC Coyote competitive sports
- Community gathering space
- Cultural celebrations
- Convocation setting
- Camp OC recreation facility
- Meditation and yoga
- Fitness Suite
- Running Track
Team OC Foundation
Contact us to transform lives and communities
Phone: 250-862-5630
Email: foundation@okanagan.bc.ca
![Group of students attending convocation.](/sites/default/files/styles/mobile_hero/public/2024-06/1667264%20FOUND%20Hero%202790x980%20Lake-B%202.0%281%29.png?h=ec5a196b&itok=11Kp5Hvk)