'It was a tough year for them': Couple gives $500 to every Grade 12 student in B.C. school district
A Kelowna, B.C., couple is giving $500 to every Grade 12 student in the region’s school district.
Initially, the couple tried to remain anonymous, but later came forward to share more on why they made the gift, which comes out to more than $1 million, reports Castanet News.
Lance and Tammy Torgerson, who are giving the money to students in School District 23, no strings attached, said they have seen firsthand how difficult COVID-19 restrictions have been for high school students.
“Our oldest is (graduating) from Grade 12 and they are never getting back the year they lost," Tammy said.
"When you're from a small city, you have friends all over the city, the kids are all connected through the high schools, just to lose those opportunities on sports teams and the parties and everything that goes along with it. It was a tough year for them."
She and her husband – who’s a well-known business person in Kelowna – had earmarked $1 million for a donation, and the numbers worked out well to give a $500 chunk of cash to each Grade 12 student.
In a letter to students, the couple suggested that teens use the money as they please, but they also gave some parental guidance.
“Please use these funds where you see fit, whether it be put towards your education, tools or personal protective equipment for the trades, or mental health needs.”
Tammy says they chose the public school system because both of their children went to public school and they felt that those were the students who needed it the most.
Letters have been sent home to parents to collect banking information for the money transfer. Students have until June 23 to register, however it will be several more weeks before the money is distributed.
"I remember being 18 and if somebody gave me $500 that was like, 'Oh my gosh, it's incredible.' I know they're going to appreciate it and put it to good use," Tammy said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
What happens after we die? Most Canadians say an afterlife does exist, survey shows
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.