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Kelowna philanthropist hosts contest for healthcare tuition at Okanagan College

Residents have the chance to win up to $5000 towards their education
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Okanagan residents have the opportunity to win free tuition toward a healthcare education at Okanagan College.

Kelowna philanthropist Tom Budd, along with local radio stations Virgin Radio and Sun FM, is hosting a contest called Wishin for Tuition across the Okanagan from now until Apr. 12.

Participants can win up to $5000 toward their tuition to one of 10 health sciences programs at Okanagan College. The programs offered include Early Childhood Education and pharmacy technician.

The tuition contest was planned before the COVID-19 pandemic, which would’ve been part of the Our Students, Your Health fundraising campaign for the college’s new health sciences centre.

Okanagan College Foundation executive director Helen Jackman said the current outbreak reinforces how essential well-trained healthcare professionals are.

“Now more than ever, we need quality healthcare professionals to care for our community, and the new centre will provide a state-of-the-art regional training hub for those frontline healthcare workers,” she said.

“We’re grateful that this contest will help not only a student pursue their dream, but that student will go on to help countless community members who will be impacted by their care.”

The prize money is coming from a fund Budd set up to honour his sons Payton and Dillon.

“The Payton and Dillon Budd Memorial Fund’s primary focus is mental health,” Budd said.

“But our physical health is directly linked to our mental health, and so we have to take care of both.”

For more information on the rules, visit this site.

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Twila Amato
Video journalist, Black Press Okanagan
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Twila Amato

About the Author: Twila Amato

Twila was a radio reporter based in northern Vancouver Island. She won the Jack Webster Student Journalism Award while at BCIT and received a degree in ancient and modern Greek history from McGill University.
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