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Okanagan Military Museum

SPECIAL EVENTS

An Evening with the Chief of the Defence Staff at the Cedar Creek Estate Winery

Gen. Walter Natynczyk,CMM,MSC,CD - Chief of the Defence Staff

The Support Our Troops - Okanagan Committee, made up of the Cedar Creek Estate Winery, the Okanagan Military Museum Society (OMMS) and the British Columbia Dragoons (BCD) Regimental family sponsored a fundraising social event on Monday. August 16, 2010. This very special occasion was held at Cedar Creek Estate Winery on 5445 Lakeshore Road, Kelowna where Canada’s Chief of Defence, General Walter Natynczyk, CMM, MSC, CD, spoke on the topic- The Canadian Forces: Today and Tomorrow.

Canadian soldiers, sailors, airmen and women are admirably serving in locations around the world and in all parts of Canada. Canadians are aware of the challenges these serving members face and the sacrifices they make but might not be as aware of the needs of their families back home in Canada. Through this special event we offered an opportunity for those in our Okanagan communities who wish to contribute to programs that support both our military families and common heritage to do so. The over $25,000 of donated funds raised at our event will be used for programs that have two themes -military families and our Okanagan military heritage.

Military families will benefit from donations to the national Military Families Fund and the local BCD Military Families Support Fund. Military heritage will benefit through the services that the Okanagan Military Museum Society provide to our community in preserving and displaying our military heritage. The evening program was a great success with over 150 participants. Guests had the opportunity to meet with the Chief of Defence in the pavilion prior to his presentation.

We would like to formally recognize the sponsoring organizations for this event and also those local sponsors who contributed to its great success. On behalf of the men and women of the Canadian Forces and their families...thank you!

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS –OKANAGAN COMMITTEE

The Support Our Troops- Okanagan Committee is composed of several Okanagan organizational and business stakeholders that share the common aim of supporting Canadian Forces members and their families from this region and our common Okanagan military heritage. These include the Cedar Creek Winery, the British Columbia Dragoons Regimental family and Okanagan Military Museum Society. Proceeds from the Support Our Troops-Okanagan Committee’s- Evening at the Cedar Creek Winery with the Chief of Defence Staff event on August 16, 2010 will be applied to the following causes:

"Many Canadians have approached and asked how they could support our troops and their families in a variety of ways. This fund gives that generosity a home, and will provide us with a unique opportunity to support our families in the dark hours when they call out for help."

General Rick Hillier, Former Chief of the Defence Staff

The Military Families Fund (MFF) is an agile and responsive means for Base and Wing Commanders, in concert with the Military Family Resources Centres (MFRCs) across the country, to help military families within hours of being advised of need. It will help with short-term emergencies and also provide long-term support. The MFF allows Canadian Forces (CF) leadership to meet the special-case needs of CF members and their families with speed and flexibility not always available through the traditional programs. The MFF enhances and complements, it does not replace, existing public and non-public programs. The Fund fills the gaps by providing for the unforeseen and often immediate needs that families may have due to conditions of service.
The MFF works with the already established and substantial existing support programs offered through the Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency (CFPSA) and elsewhere, to CF members and their families. The MFF allows for several areas of support, including rehabilitation, education, financial assistance in the case of injury or death of a CF member due to service, and urgent and extraordinary financial demands where the ability to provide family necessities is at risk.

The British Columbia Dragoons “The Okanagan’s Own” Regimental Military Family Support Fund has been created as a means to provide local support to the families of members of the Regiment in the overall context of the Military Families Fund mandate.

The Okanagan Military Museum Society (OMMS) is a non-profit, charitable organization dedicated to preserving our common regional military heritage through its support to the Okanagan Military Museum. The OMMS is made up of individuals and organizations that have an abiding interest in our military history and the preservation of this aspect of the Okanagan’s heritage. The collection and public display of artifacts relevant to the experiences of Okanagan residents who have served in our armed services are the chief means of achieving this aim. OMMS volunteers contribute time, effort and expertise to the maintenance and development of the museum. They are dedicated to providing a valuable service to the community through the continuing presence of the military museum as both a cultural and educational facility for the public. The society members are involved in all aspects of the museum's operations and policies related to its future development working cooperatively with Kelowna Museums staff and through participation in Executive Board of the Kelowna Museums Society.