Million-dollar donation huge boost for trail fund
Family’s gift brings group raising money to build KelownaVernon trail within $150,000 of goal
A community-minded family has given more than $1 million toward construction of the Okanagan Rail Trail.
The family, whose name has not yet been released, has deep roots in Kelowna and the North Okanagan, the two areas connected by the 49-kilometre-long trail being built on an abandoned railway corridor.
“It’s fantastic news,” Brad Clement of the Okanagan Rail Trail Initiative said Tuesday.
“This brings us within $150,000 of reaching our target of $7.8 million,” Clement said.
Including a previous donation last year to begin the trail’s construction, the unidentified family’s donations toward the project will approach the $1.5-million mark.
Members of ORTI hope that publicizing the family’s donation now, with their name to be revealed next month, will spur others to make their own donation so the $7.8-million target can be reached by Canada Day.
The family’s donation is the largest ever received by ORTI, the volunteer group that’s been working for two years to raise money for the trail’s construction. It surpasses even a recent contribution by the federal government.
About 32 km of the trail are close to being finished, with an official opening set for later this year. The trail passes along several lakes and through farmland, and is expected to be a significant tourist draw.
“Our communities have provided remarkable support in bringing this dream to life, and we are rewarded by the reaction from so many ecstatic trail enthusiasts,” says Duane Thomson, a Lake Country man who is also an ORTI board member.
To donate, see okanaganrailtrail.ca.