A South Okanagan non-profit group is reaching out to the neighborhood for help after its subject truck was fully written off following a automobile incident.
The Okanagan Similkameen Stewardship Society says its truck was considerably broken whereas parked on a avenue in Penticton, B.C., again in December.
“We had an old field truck; it was a 1999 Ford Ranger and in the middle of the night someone hit it. No one was injured, which was great, but it was completely written off,” stated Okanagan Similkameen Stewardship Society Stewardship biologist Lia McKinnon.
“Since it was a 1999 Ford Ranger, what we got from ICBC isn’t really enough to pay for a new truck. We’re hoping to buy something a little bit newer and more reliable. We are primarily grant funded and unfortunately our grants for some reason specifically say we can’t use them for a lease, so we really do need to have enough money to be able to buy something new to us.”
The group relies in Penticton and works all through the Okanagan-Similkameen area which incorporates Princeton and all the way in which up the valley into Armstrong and Cherryville.
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According to the Stewardship, having a truck is crucial for the work that workers and college students do year-round.
“We use it for all of our work. We do a lot of invasive plant management with our students so it carries our brush cutters and our garbage bags and our garbage pickers, it carries our staff around,” stated McKinnon.
“In the fall we do a lot of plantings, so it carries our plants and our shovels and all of our other tools so it’s really essential to what we do.”
Currently, the society is utilizing private automobiles however McKinnon says it isn’t a everlasting resolution.
“If we can’t buy a vehicle, maybe we can rent one, but that’s also difficult with summer students because they’re often so young and then we use them out in the bush, you know, throwing weeds and shovels and things on them,” stated McKinnon.
“So, we need something that we can scratch up the inside of.”
The non-profit has launched a fundraising marketing campaign in hopes of buying a brand new truck and all the data is obtainable on the Okanagan Similkameen Stewardship Society web site.
“There’s a link there to donate to the truck campaign and if anyone has a truck that they’re not using, we can also offer tax receipts,” stated McKinnon.
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Okanagan Similkameen Stewardship in dire need of new field truck
