The Kelowna Rotary Club made a $ 25,000 donation to a local youth and family service.
You contributed to the efforts of Bridge Youth and Family Services in Kelowna to meet the “urgent need” to provide treatment for adolescents.
Currently, the Rotary Club said there are not enough treatment options for teenagers in the area.
For a year and a half, The Bridge Youth and Family Services has had a list of young people who are still seeking shelter for treatment.
“The bridge receives weekly calls from families in need looking for a treatment center for their son or daughter only to learn that they are likely to be placed on a waiting list for a program in Prince George or Vancouver,” said The Celine Thompson, Executive Director of Bridge Youth and Family Services.
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Teenagers account for more than 20 percent of overdose deaths in BC, according to the center, and BC health officials have warned that street drugs have become even more toxic because of the pandemic.
“We saw and heard children die waiting for a bed,” Thompson said.
However, they have worked to fix this by renovating their new six-bed treatment facility on Cadder Avenue.
Rotary felt it was important to help this cause.
“With the current opioid crisis and the lack of adequate youth treatment facilities in our area, the Kelowna Rotary club felt this was an urgent need for the community,” said Lenetta Parry, president of the Rotary club from Kelowna.
The Kelowna Rotary Club’s funds will be used to furnish the six bedrooms and living areas, and to provide the center with computer equipment
The bridge is now halfway towards its $ 1 million fundraising goal, which is needed to cover the operating costs of running the facility. Once they achieve that goal, they open up.
Funds were donated to the center by Rotary through the success of their annual FortisBC Rotary Pro-Am golf tournament.
Donations to support the Youth Recovery House can be made securely online at www.youthrecoveryhouse.ca.
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Do you have anything to add to this story or anything else we should cover? Email: phil.mclachlan@kelownacapnews.com
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Charity and donations
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