UBCO Giving Day 2023

April 7, 2023

Community rallies to support UBCO’s Giving Day

Stober Foundation surprises campus with unprecedented gift

An unexpected gift of more than $75,000 helped boost UBC Okanagan’s third Giving Day to unimaginable heights. 

“We had an incredible 24-hours of giving at our campus yesterday and it resulted in more than $200,000 raised to support a range of student causes from athletics to affordability,” says UBCO Principal and Deputy-Vice-Chancellor Lesley Cormack. “Thanks to the support of one of Kelowna’s premier philanthropic organizations, the Stober Foundation, our campus reached the highest fundraising total recorded for Giving Day. We are truly amazed by the community support.”

While the Stober Foundation had already committed to contributing during Giving Day, foundation CEO Keith Brewster saw the remarkable level of engagement and participation of students, staff and alumni in their joint fundraising efforts. He then surprised UBCO with an unprecedented gift of $75,000. 

Dr. Cormack explains that as Giving Day progressed, challenges—releasing more funds—were unlocked as donations flowed in. Brewster noted the level of engagement and the number of challenges that were met and this inspired him to increase the amount of funding pledged to the Okanagan campus. 

“It was certainly an unexpected gift,” she adds. “Thanks to the Stober Foundation and as well gifts from hundreds of donors, UBC Okanagan had its most successful Giving Day on record.”

Giving Day featured 15 funds including nine Heat men’s and women’s teams. Other causes involved include the FORWARD for Students Affordability Initiative—which provides student awards—the Perseverance Bursary—which helps remove financial barriers for students with a disability or medical condition—the Multi-Faith Space—which more than 300 students use for multi-faith services weekly, and the UBCO Motorsports club which will race their next-generation electric racecar at an international competition in May. 

Thanks to the unexpected gift, each of these groups will now also receive a top up of an additional $5,000.

“The Stober Foundation loves to see people pulling together to support the community and causes they care about,” says Brewster. “Yesterday we were blown away by the sheer number of students who connected with us throughout the day to champion the causes they care about. We decided to support their collective efforts by topping up every fund and congratulate everyone on an incredible result.”