The North Vancouver Outdoor School in Paradise Valley may finally be able to refurbish their 40-year-old main building thanks to a one-time $1 million donation from the North Shore Credit Union (NSCU).
"We're absolutely delighted to be included in the short-listed group for the potential receipt of the $1 million, absolutely," said school superintendent John Lewis. "We've had a longstanding program at the outdoor school for environmental education and we've been struggling to be able to ensure its future continuation."
The NSCU Charitable Foundation decided last year to dissolve its charity model and requested non-profit organizations apply for the total remaining assets.
To help promote the $1 million gift, CTV broadcasted a public service announcement featuring newscaster Pamela Martin and the song "If I Had a Million Dollars" by the Barenaked Ladies.
The grant would be awarded to the project that "most effectively demonstrates its support of the physical, environmental or financial wellness" of one of the communities NSCU serves, which includes North Vancouver, downtown Vancouver, Burnaby, Squamish, Whistler and Pemberton, according to an NSCU news release.
After receiving a landslide of 140 applications last November, NSCU short listed three non-profit groups for the opportunity to receive the $1 million award.
The finalists include:
The North Vancouver Outdoor School (NVOS) to build an Environmental Learning Centre that provides outdoor education, including community and environmental stewardship, to more than 5,000 students and 6,000 adults each year.
North Shore Hospice, a partnership of Lions Gate Hospital Foundation, Family Services of the North Shore, Lions Gate Hospice Society and Vancouver Coastal Health, to build the North Shore's first free-standing hospice, which will provide quality, end-of-life care in a home-like setting to stable, but terminally ill individuals who no longer are receiving active treatment.
West Coast Alternatives Society (WCAS) to expand its current facility and Kids FIRST program (Families in Recovery Staying Together).
