Seven enthusiastic trail supporters have stepped forward with a very generous offer to inspire donations towards construction of many metres of rail trail. During the month of October, all donations to the rail trail will be matched up to $500,000. This incentive has the potential to more than double the number of metres funded to date, and will go a long way towards funding the next stage of trail development.
“We were inspired by the excitement created by the summer matching campaign and wanted to do something similar in the fall,” said one of the donors. “We are hoping that this October matching campaign will inspire the donations to complete the second stage of trail construction. We want to help get this trail built!”
The second stage of trail construction is estimated to cost $2,000,000 for preparatory civil work, including environmental, drainage, erosion protection, and rock scaling. “This is a very important preparation stage for the construction of the trail. It will ensure that the rock cliffs along the lakes are safe, that all environmentally sensitive areas are assessed and protected, and that proper permitting is in place for continued work on the trail”, explains Trail Ambassador Dev Fraser. “This work will expedite and lower the costs of the trail construction itself”.
Funds have already been raised to cover Stage one - $500,000 for access control and design work. The Inter-Jurisdictional Development Team will send out Requests For Proposals for this work shortly, and work could begin this winter. The Inter-Jurisdictional team responsible for the planning and development of the trail is made up of representatives from the City of Kelowna, District of Lake Country, Okanagan Indian Band, and North Okanagan Regional District. With funding for the second stage of construction raised this fall, work can be scheduled for the spring of 2017.
The October matching campaign will be begin October 1st and end on October 31st. The seven donors will match all donations received during this period.
Donations can be made by credit card, paypal or debit online at: https://okanaganrailtrail.ca/donate. Donations by cheque can be sent to either of the community foundations listed below. A gift of securities (stocks or bonds) can also be arranged with the foundations. All donations greater than $25 will receive a tax receipt.