A couple of local water enthusiasts are making a splash in support of affordable childcare.

Childhood friends Brittany Page and Kristin (Postill) Holomis will paddleboard the length of Kalamalka Lake Saturday, July 20.

The annual Stand Up For..., charity paddle has raised more than $156,000 for the community to date (Okanagan Rail Trail, KidSport Okanagan, The People Place, Archway Society, Starfish Pack and NOYFSS).

And this year, the seventh annual, the pair will take on the approximately 18 kilometre challenge in support of the Okanagan College Sunflower Childcare Centre in Vernon.

Scheduled to open in September, the centre aims to address the critical shortage of affordable childcare spaces in the North Okanagan that can prevent parents from pursuing post secondary education.

The centre will support 44 kids, specifically 24 infants and 20 three to five year olds.

Approximately 51 per cent of parents are waitlisted for childcare and subsequently spend two years on those waitlists.

Staggeringly, parent students who have childcare are three times more likely to graduate, allowing them to fulfill their goals and seek better, more stable careers for their young families.

鈥淭he Sunflower Childcare Centre is filling this major gap in our community. It will provide the necessary support for student parents who otherwise might not have had access to childcare," said Holomis. 

"This gives them the opportunity at an education that will unlock a better life for them and their families. We鈥檙e so fortunate to have this offered in our community and we are proud to be able to support them and their mission.鈥�

Supporting the childcare centre hits home for Page.

"As a daughter of a single mother with three kids who went back to school while we were young, this is not only something I can relate to but I can personally attest to the better life she was able to provide for us based on her education,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he Sunflower Centre will offer this opportunity to students in need and the community will be better for it.鈥�

Funds raised by the paddle will go directly to help outfit the centre with items such as bikes, wooden toys, puzzles, kid鈥檚 cots, sensory table, books and bookshelves.

鈥淲e are so thrilled that Brittney and Kristin have chosen the Sunflower Childcare Centre as their cause this year. We believe in the power of education, to transform lives, and we know that a big barrier for our parents can be that they do not have safe and affordable childcare,鈥� says Sasha Carter, manager of advancement for Okanagan College Foundation.

Holomis and Page have set a lofty goal of raising $25,000 in just a few weeks.

But both women who have played professional sports globally now once again call the Okanagan home are here for the challenge.

Friends since elementary school, they say it鈥檚 important to them to support the community that helped shape their youth and focus the paddle each year on charities benefiting women, children and youth.

Support the paddle at .