Suggested Charities
Further to the Zoom meeting of January 19, a number of charities were suggested by OKARTA members. Here is the list of those charities and their websites where applicable:
ARTA Charitable Foundation -The Alberta Retired Teachers’ Association, through its Charitable Foundation, aims to help all Alberta seniors find appropriate housing and health services, and to provide support for seniors where English is a second language. To achieve this mandate, the Foundation partners with likeminded charitable organizations and specifically funds targeted programs to make an impact on seniors living in Alberta. https://www.arta.net/advocacy/artcf/
Hands In Service – provides free basic house cleaning, laundry and simple food preparation for those in our community under the age of 65 who have health concerns or disabilities. They also partner with local food banks to deliver regular food to those with limited access to the food bank due to health issues or financial constraint.
https://www.handsinservice.ca/
Freedom’s Door – addictions recovery in Kelowna
https://freedomsdoorkelowna.com/contact/
CRIS – Community Recreational Initiatives Society – takes people with disabilities on adventures with specially adapted equipment
http://adaptiveadventures.ca/
Penticton Food Bank (c/o Salvation Army in Penticton) – donating to this on reference of our daughter in Penticton
other local food banks too.
Vernon Mental Health – They do lots of good work, but we helped them evaluate “farm friends” initiative – to engage people recovering from mental health and addictions to engage in gardening, cooking, food preservation, sustainable environment practices, etc.
https://cmhavernon.ca/
Kelowna Mental Health – as above. They engage people recovering in landscaping and tree trimming as well as other things. You can call them to get your trees trimmed at a very good rate too.
https://cmhakelowna.com/
SPCA – most will be familiar
https://spca.bc.ca/locations/kelowna/
Kelowna Women’s Shelter – Preventing and Addressing Family Violence has been a major theme for Kate and I for the last 20 years – in Canada and Zambia. More about Alberta and Canada below.
https://kelownawomensshelter.ca/give-help/donate-now/?gclid=CjwKCAiA9bmABhBbEiwASb35V5_JLOdjSRFdjO4bJKmqpIN71o0Nnj4Ce8EZXSLY4I4fAQ8_XM1QtBoCAxkQAvD_BwE
Project Literacy Central Okanagan Society – Originally established to provide tutoring support for adults who could not read and write, Project Literacy Central Okanagan Society has evolved to provide literacy support for immigrant families, children and seniors. Project Literacy COS currently works with over 120 volunteers annually to offer one to one tutoring support in English and Math, and to provide early year’s literacy development for children. Project Literacy is entirely funded by grants and donations.
https://projectliteracy.ca/donate
NOW Canada – front-line programs and services for women and youth who have experienced addictions, abuse, sexual exploitation and mental health challenges.
https://www.nowcanada.ca/
Beyond BC . . . .
Edmonton – Big Bros Big Sisters Boys and Girls Club Edmonton and Area – we’ve supported their efforts to improve programs and evaluation. https://bgcbigs.ca/
Women’s Shelters in Alberta – as above – Just pick your place, but donate to the place directly (not through Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters. We’ve worked directly with several in Edmonton, Sherwood Park, Medicine Hat, several in Calgary
Canadian Women’s foundation – we’ve worked with preventing and addressing trafficking, teen healthy relationships, etc.
https://canadianwomen.org/
Charitable work in Zambia – We can’t do a charitable donation receipt currently, so you would just have to trust us. 100% of donations we receive go to projects we work with directly, called “Low Cost, High Impact, Community-driven, Sustainable Health Initiatives (LoHi CD SHY) with people in Zambia’s Western Province and impoverished communities in the capital, Lusaka. These address
a. social determinants of health to improve the base for the long term, poverty, education, employment, food security, water and sanitation, health service for people in remote areas via volunteers, etc. while, at the same time . . .
b. addressing specific health and social issues such as HIV, malaria, and family violence.
Contact OKARTA member Eugene Krupa at ekrupa@ualberta.ca
