The Peachland Hub

The Hub is still working on fundraising so that the food bank and Peachland Wellness Centre has a new home.

From 2023:

The Peachland Hub had the following announcement on their website November 8. I’ll copy and paste it, after these words from Hub treasurer Rick Ingram after the Nov 14 council meeting, when it was announced the Hub is moving on from its original plan:

“We tried really hard to get some provincial support,” said Ingram.

“But there’s no specific program right now, so it was appeals to Ministers, saying ‘can you’ – we need $450,000 to get there….but we didn’t get the kind of feedback we needed so we’d have to do it all in the community, and $450K in the community, considering we’ve raised $250,000 over the past two years, we just had to face that we weren’t going to make it. It was hard.”

Here’s the Hub’s announcement:

…At the Nov. 6 meeting of their Organizational Committee, the decision was made to transition the Society from one dedicated to the construction of the full Hub Project to a collective supporting the smaller projects of member groups.

Unfortunately, economic conditions have created an environment in which we have been unable to reach a fundraising milestone required to make the strict construction deadline of the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings (“GICB”) fund. Our $8.3M application to GICB is still being processed, but this program will not fund any construction beyond Mar. 31, 2026. This construction deadline resulted in a fundraising need of $500K by this month to facilitate work that needed to happen this winter.

Without significant support from the provincial government, foundations, and high net-worth individuals we have been unable to meet this milestone and our “Plan A” is no longer viable (“Plan A” being the effort to construct the new Hub building on the site of the 50+ Activity Centre and the new Food Bank between it and the highway).

Accordingly, we will be winding down our “Plan A” project while continuing to support our members as their Boards make decisions about their “Plan B”. For while the Food Bank and PWC are now settled into their temporary space at 4th Street Place (a near end-of-life facility), it is just temporary, and their need to find permanent homes remains.

Although we mourn the end of “Plan A”, the Hub Society is very proud of our successes. These include: the advancement from the seed of a concept to an incredible design for a facility that would have served Peachland for many decades, the establishment of the temporary location for the Food Bank and PWC, and perhaps most importantly – the ongoing collaboration of nine disparate groups to provide much needed services to Peachlanders.

We will continue to meet regularly to ensure that we are aware of, and can be supportive of, each other’s activities and projects. And we will continue to hold events such as our markets to raise awareness within the community of our members’ projects and needs.

We want to thank all of those who have made donations to the Hub Project. You have made our successes possible, and all remaining funds will be distributed to the Food Bank and PWC in support of their ongoing new home projects.

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On October 7, the Peachland Yacht Club donated $750 towards the food bank portion of the Hub project. This is where a lot of fundraising efforts are being focussed, says Hub co-chair Kym Martin:

“We’re fundraising for the annex build first, which is the food bank,” she says, adding the Hub group is always working in the background on attracting funds towards the overall build project (scroll down for more on that.)

“We are extremely thankful to the Yacht Club and their generosity. That’s what today is about.”

Pictured are Heidi Slyngbom, Kym Martin and the Peachland Food Bank’s Judy Bedford, accepting a check from Commodore Bill Van Noortwyk of the Peachland Yacht Club:

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August, 2023: The food bank portion of the Hub project will likely be delayed another year, says treasurer Rick Ingram. The deadline for a BC Gaming capital grant that would have been key to getting the new building running by mid-2024 has come and gone – there wasn’t enough money raised by the summer of 2023 to qualify for the grant, so the Hub is regrouping and trying again. The most recent updates ⬇️

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Who won the Hub’s 50/50 draw? Harold James Jr Derickson of West Kelowna won $6,397.50. He gave the winnings to his mom! Here’s the story.

And how much has the Hub raised so far? If you scroll further down this page you’ll get the background on the entire project – but basically, fundraising efforts have focussed on building a new food bank. But that will likely be delayed, because they needed $475,000 in place by Aug 3, 2023 to qualify for a grant that would gain $250,000 towards the project. The overall budget for building the food bank is currently $725,000 according to treasurer Rick Ingram. He said in a July 30 email they’re $200,000 short of that $475,000 goal.

“Unfortunately this means we are most likely going to have to delay the food bank project by a year, giving ourselves 12 more months to raise the needed donations, and apply for the BC Gaming Capital Grant in the next cycle (mid June to end of July in 2024.)”

The food bank just moved into a temporary location at 4th St Place.

Here’s a breakdown of what’s been raised towards the new food bank:

The Peachland Rotary Club has committed $65,000.

The Peachland Lions will be requesting $130,000 from their District (not to be mistaken for District of Peachland) coffers.

About $80,000 has been raised in the community through Hub fundraisers and donations.

Although the Hub won’t hit this year’s gaming grant application deadline, they’ll go for it next year.

Says Hub president Shelley Sweeney:

“We will still continue to fundraise for the food bank’s new home and the HUB.”

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Peachland Hub volunteers during this year’s World of Wheels!

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Fundraise, fundraise, fundraise. It’s a project Peachlanders “deserve,” say volunteers behind the Hub – which will replace the current 50+ Centre.

The Hub team in April, 2022 receiving one of its first donations from the Peachland Rotary

When it (ideally) opens in the spring of 2026, the Hub will house local non-profits and create a lakefront event space for the public, while meeting community needs that are unseen by most of us who live here. That’s what the team behind it said during an open house March 19.

“The needs in this community, a lot of them are hidden,” says Kym Martin. She’s president of the Peachland Wellness Centre. The PWC, along with the PDRS (which runs the 50+ Centre) and the Peachland Food Bank will be the biggest users of the new space. There will also be room for the local Rotary, Lions, Chamber of Commerce, BEEPS, the Ambassadors and Peachland Community Connects.

A floor plan so far…

The Hub is happening because of the upcoming seniors housing project. It’s planned for 5th St., which is headquarters for the PWC, the nearby Food Bank and two other groups (Lions and Community Policing.) The latter two have already moved, and the PWC will be out of their little yellow and red house by the beginning of April. They’re joining the Food Bank at 4th St. Place.

Fundraising for the new Food Bank – which will be a pre-fab building between the Hub and the highway on 8 St – is the current priority. Cost so far is estimated at $725,000 – and they need a significant amount of funding already in place before applying for a big grant that could cover half the cost. Hub vice-chair Rick Ingram explains:

“They only accept applications for the BC Gaming Capital Grant each year between the middle of June and end of July. So that gives us a very hard fundraising target. All the rest of the money for the food bank has to be in place by the end of July this year.”

So, they need Peachlanders’ help: A 50/50 draw is ongoing, with the draw date happening this summer. If all the tickets are sold, the jackpot will be $100,000.

So far they’ve hosted a fashion April 22 (more info on that here), followed by another open house April 23 at the 50+ Centre, and another in June. A murder mystery evening was held June 2 and 3.

The winner of the Hub’s Mercedes raffle, January 2023…

Winning a sports car in winter!

They’re also targeting foundations, corporations and high net-worth individuals, in addition to selling naming rights on bricks and solar panels. Stock in kind donations are available too. More here.

A March 19 open house presentation covered the numbers for the project so far. Current estimate to build the Hub (not including the Food Bank) is $14.53 million – and 70% of that is expected to come from grants.

“There won’t be a cost to taxpayers,” says Kym Martin, adding that’s one reason the Hub is separate from whatever improvement plans that may or may not happen at Peachland’s community centre.

But wouldn’t it make sense to do some kind of combined project?

The needs of an improved community centre would exceed the footprint available when combined with the Hub’s requirements, Ingram answered, explaining that Cousins Field can’t be messed with (for obvious reasons.)

“If there was a way of physically doing it, it would certainly be worth exploring,” he said, also noting that they’re going ahead with their plans because they can qualify for grants the municipality can’t – and the Hub needs to happen sooner than later. (No significant improvements are budgeted for the community centre at this time.)

In 2022, the Hub successfully secured an $80,000 Green Municipal Fund grant. That money was used to pay for the building’s schematic design and energy study.

An in February, 2023 the Hub group applied for an $8.26 million Green and Inclusive Community Buildings Grant.

“That’s the main one we’re targeting,” Ingram says, calling it a solid application done entirely by volunteers.

What if they don’t get this grant?

“The project will happen regardless, we’ll work at it til we have the money,” says Gwen Bodnarek, a Hub steering committee director.

“We’re pretty determined,” added Kym Martin.

“We’ve set some very aggressive timelines for ourselves, but it’s going to happen. If we miss a year, like with the Gaming grant for the food bank, we’ll wait til the next year. We don’t want that to happen, but…”

Said Ingram: “The community needs the services and programs provided by these groups and these groups need a new and permanent home. We’re going to make it happen.”

He said the current 50+ building – circa 1975 with it’s small windows, buggy electricity and a wave of cold that comes through winter – could be so much more. The new facility will have deck space and huge windows facing the lake, making it an ideal rental space.

“We need a premier space, and Peachlanders deserve it, quite frankly. ” said Martin.

It’s the ideal spot, added Ingram.

“It’s the start to downtown, as people are driving and walking along Beach Avenue.”

Back to the beginning of this story: Kym Martin mentioned the new Hub building will address the very real needs facing the Food Bank and PWC:

“We spend our time walking up and down Beach Ave but we don’t realize the number of hungry people we have in this community until you volunteer for the food bank and see the lineups,” Martin says. She adds the PWC’s Adult Day Program is in such high demand that Interior Health wants to add another day of it in Peachland.

“But we don’t have the space right now. We can’t run the program any more than we are in this community because we don’t have the space.”

If all goes to plan, the Food Bank will be built by mid-2024, with the Hub, as mentioned opening in April or May of 2026.

For more on the Hub, there’s lots of info on their website.