The second-annual Giving Tuesday campaign launched by the College of the Rockies has raised $70,150 for three initiatives and the creation of a new scholarship.
“We are blown away by the response we received from the people and businesses in our region,” said Graham Knipfel, Director, Donor and Alumni Engagement. “This has been a challenging year for many and to have this year’s campaign do so well is a testament to the generosity and community-driven spirit of people in our area.”
The College said the campaign focused on its Cranbrook Community Forest trail enhancement project, the Dean’s Equipment Fund for Environmental Science, and the Engineers Canada Indigenous Access to Engineering Bursary.
“People really rallied around the Community Forest trail project,” said Knipfel. “We received close to $20,000 for that initiative alone, with a top donation coming from the College of the Rockies’ Students’ Association ($5,000). With the College matching these donations, we have almost $40,000 to kick off this project. I’m excited to work with our partners as we move forward in the next few months.”
The College said the Dean’s Equipment Fund for Environmental Science received a total of $11,000, with the top donation of $5,000 given by Lotic Environmental.
As well, the College’s Engineering certificate program now has access to a permanent Engineers Canada Indigenous Access to Engineering Bursary, thanks to a $10,000 contribution from CIBC.
The initiatives received significant contributions from VAST Resource Solutions, Keefer Ecological Services, Paul Vogt, TerraLogic Exploration, Gerick Sports, Northstar Bicycle Co., Cranbrook & Region Tourism Society, CertainTeed Canada, and Chandos Construction.
With the donation money, the College said it established a new financial award, the Howard Scholarship.
“This scholarship will be presented to a first-year Adventure Tourism Business Operations (ATBO) student planning to enroll in the second year of the diploma program held at the Golden campus. This scholarship was made possible through a $7,000 donation from an anonymous ATBO alumnus who is passionate about adventure tourism in the Golden area and will continue to support students, and the program, through additional $7,000 donations in 2022 and 2023,” said the College.