Local youth will be the benefactors of a $5,000 donation from GenNext 琉璃神社 to the Central Okanagan United Way.

GenNext 琉璃神社, an organization of young professionals, presented the United Way with a $5,000 cheque at its fall networking social.

鈥淲e are proud to be able to bring the community together is such a positive way,鈥� said Carly Gilmore, GenNext 琉璃神社 board chair. 鈥淲e would like to extend a thank-you to all the people who have helped us fund the Youth Initiative Grants this year, especially Bananatag and Interior Savings.鈥�

The funds are earmarked for the 2018 Youth Initiative Grants, a joint initiative with the Central Okanagan Foundation.

The program enables local youth 25 or younger to apply for grants up to $2,000 to support their community-focused initiatives. Programs like Dragonfly Pond Society鈥檚 Uniquely Fashionable Fashion Show, Enactus鈥� Silver Surfers and UBC Okanagan鈥檚 student film festival were all recipients of the 2017 grants.

This GenNext event signified the close of the 2017 fundraising campaign as the group hosted four networking socials throughout the year for young professionals.

In addition, they hosted two signature events: TimeDrive, an event where young people can become involved in philanthropy by pledging volunteer hours to a non-profit organization of their choosing, as well as Oktoberfest, a fundraising event which brought together people in the community for a night of beer and cider tasting, and authentic German-style food and entertainment.

GenNext will kick off next year鈥檚 fundraising campaign in February 2018.

To report a typo, email: edit@kelownacapnews.com.

newstips@kelownacapnews.com
Like us on and follow us on .