Okanagan College Alumni Association
1000 KLO Road V1Y 4X8 Kelowna, BC, Canada

In honour of #OrangeShirtDay, OC Distinguished Alumni Grace Greyeyes shares her story of survival at a residential school, a place she feels lucky to have survived. Since then, Greyeyes has been a passionate advocate for education all of her adult life, first in her nursing career which spanned more than 35 years and later as a volunteer, advisor, Elder, and Aboriginal knowledge keeper in the South Okanagan. She has been a member of the Aboriginal Education Advisory committee... for School District #67 in Penticton for over a decade and began developing curriculum for SD#53 (Okanagan Similkameen) a few years ago. Greyeyes’ connection to Okanagan College dates back to the institution’s earliest years. She completed her Practical Nursing training at the College (then B.C. Vocational School) in 1968. She returned in the early 1990s to continue her education, pursuing Arts courses at the Penticton campus. Her passion for education has been recognized locally and at the national level. She received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2017. Read her story of survival on Castanet: https://bit.ly/34eiOCJ #OCalumni #EveryChildMatters Okanagan College Okanagan College - Penticton Campus Okanagan College Aboriginal Services - Penticton

Harvesting help needed: Enactus OC students are inviting OC alumni and the community to join them in picking apples that will be used to make healthy snacks for children and others in need. FruitSnaps is a Vernon- and Penticton-based project, which sees Enactus OC students partnering with the North Okanagan Valley Gleaners Society facility, where unused apples from local orchards are dehydrated into snacks for local schools. The FruitSnaps team will be hosting small, physical...ly-distanced apple picking sessions at the orchard at 10168 Grey Rd in Coldstream during the following times: Thursday, Oct. 1 from 3:30 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4 from 10 a.m. 2 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6 from 3:30 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10 from noon 4 p.m. Find more information here: Enactus Okanagan College. Volunteers are asked to please don a mask upon arrival and while picking (a mask will be provided if you do not have one). Physical distancing of 2 metres (6 feet) will be required. Hand Sanitizer will be provided to the participants throughout the activity. #OCalumni #getinvolved

What have you been up to since you graduated from Okanagan College? Did you get a new job or a promotion, receive an award or recognition, travel around the world, write a book, retire, compete in a contest or race, have a baby? We want to be there, every step of the way. Share your milestones with former classmates and the OC community. Your news will be shared on our website, on OC Alumni’s social media channels and may be featured in our newsletters. Submit your update her...e: okanagan.bc.ca/occollectiveform #OCAlumni

Six OC alumni made the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce's BDO Top 40 Under 40 list this year. One of those honourees was Danielle Walker, a 2018 Business Administration diploma grad, who's currently working towards her degree. We caught up with Danielle to see what's she been up to and how it felt to receive this recognition. Q: You made the list of BDO’s Top 40 under 40 how did that feel?... A: At first it was a little surreal. I am so honored and thankful to all the friends, family, mentors and faculty advisors who have helped me along the way. I am actively involved in the community and I am grateful to be able to use my knowledge and experience to make an impact! Read the full Q&A here: https://www.okanagan.bc.ca/story/meet-danielle-walker Okanagan College Okanagan College Business #OCalumni

Are there any tried-and-true recipes that have helped you through the past six months? We’re looking for #OCalumni to contribute to Okanagan College’s COVID cookbook, titled, What We Cooked: A Compilation of Recipes During COVID Times. The deadline to be consider is Sept. 30. To learn more about What We Cooked and how it’s helping the OC community, watch OC Librarian Roen Janyk on Global News: https://bit.ly/2RJuUy5. To submit a recipe, click here: https://bit.ly/2FNxKzC. #O...Cstrong Okanagan College Okanagan College Library

Tomorrow OC alumnus, Nick Pelletier will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for fastest swim of Lake Okanagan, 106 km, from Vernon, B.C. to Penticton, B.C. In addition to the swim being a personal challenge, Pelletier is also raising funds to help support BrainTrust Canada, a non-profit dedicated to meeting the unique needs of people affected by acquired brain injury by providing evidence-based approaches to rehabilitation and recovery. We caught up with Pelletier t...o hear more about what he’s been up to. Q: Hey Nick! So tell us what was the motivation behind this mission? A: The motivation behind this swim came from my inability to follow through on previously planned out endeavours because of COVID-19. My friend and I paddled from Vernon to Kelowna on a kayak earlier this winter and I thought challenging the whole lake would be a cool idea, but thought kayaking might be too easy. I decided I would start training and commit to attempting the swim later in the summer, and here we are! Read the full Q&A here: https://bit.ly/3bmQcum Okanagan College Okanagan College Business #OCAlumni