KELOWNA, BC, December 15, 2021 – A council of Knights of Columbus has made a donation to the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Kelowna and it hopes it will lead to more involvement from service clubs in the community.
The Knights of Columbus, Father De Lestre Council 6233 donated $500 to the CMHA Kelowna Togetherness Campaign, their holiday end of year fundraiser.
“We’ve always liked to support community initiatives,” said Peter Zazuliak from the club. “We support Cubs and Scouts, and the Canadian Cancer Society – anything that helps patients. We have to have support go to those people.”
The group’s hall and two apartment suites are in the same location as CMHA Kelowna’s McCurdy Place supportive housing building. The two organizations have shared the space since the building opened in March 2021. “Now that Canadian Mental Health Association Kelowna is in McCurdy Place, we have another entity to make a donation to,” added Zazuliak. “It’s better that we have a place, we share the property, and we’re not struggling to operate it.”
The supportive housing building, operated by CMHA Kelowna, is home to 49 individuals who otherwise would be at risk of homelessness. “I think this is a good cause. A lot of people, and a lot of neighbours, thought it was going to be a troublesome area. But we find that they’re an excellent tenant and neighbours, and we’d like to see more clubs to share the property.”
Dale Handley, Associate Director of Housing at CMHA Kelowna says he’s happy to have the Knights support the building. “We know that this has been a different type of space than what they have been used to. But to have the Knights of Columbus be so willing to share the building with us for the past nine months and now donate – it really shows that anyone can have a positive impact on the mental health of people in our community.”
The Knights of Columbus are encouraging all other service clubs in Kelowna to take part in CMHA Kelowna’s Togetherness Campaign fundraiser and match or exceed their gift of $500.
To donate to CMHA Kelowna’s Togetherness campaign and support more people in our community to live with good mental health: please click here.
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