Surprise gift from Stober Foundation
A trio of Okanagan College (OC) Business students envisioned an investment fund that has attracted overwhelming community support, including a generous $40,000 gift from the Stober Foundation. The group began fundraising in January and met their $100,000 seed funding goal in record time.
Riley Dunsmore and Steven Fiust, both OC business students, along withcreated the Okanagan College Student Investment Fund to give students experiential learning opportunities and benefit future students with bursaries and scholarships.
“The reception from the community has been exceptional. I extend my greatest thanks to the donors,” says Dunsmore.
The fund will provide a pool of money for business students at all four Okanagan campuses to make real-world investments under the supervision and support of a team of expert advisors. While student-led and managed, the fund will be held and governed by Okanagan College Foundation.
“This fund fits the Stober Foundation’s mission beautifully; it’s progressive, forward-thinking and sustainable in nature,” says Keith Z. Brewster, director and lead philanthropist for the Stober Foundation.
The fund aims to provide learning opportunities that will smooth students’ transitions into the working world and boost their resumes.
“Finance is a notoriously competitive field,” says Rantucci. “To get a job, you have to have experience, but to get experience, you have to have a job.”
The Stober Foundation announced their gift during a surprise visit to a business class.
Once the fund builds to $500,000, all proceeds will be distributed as bursaries and scholarships to incoming classes of Okanagan College students.
Students are asking for community support to raise the remaining $400,000 to reach this benchmark.
Having these assets upfront, instead of building the fund through investment income alone, will allow more students to participate in the program from its onset. It will also increase the number of awards issued over the course of the program by 400 per cent.
“It’s our privilege to support the students as they work towards their $500,000 goal. Donations to the OC Student Investment Fund will benefit Okanagan College students for generations to come,” says Helen Jackman, Executive Director of Okanagan College Foundation.
To learn more about the Student Investment Fund or to donate, visit https://trellis.org/studentinvestmentfund.
[top photo] Founders of the OC Student Investment Fund, from left to right: Steven Fiust, Justin Rantucci and Riley Dunsmore.
