Below is an important message from the Pacific Mountain Region of the United Church of Canada:
"Amid a difficult few weeks of wildfires that have destroyed homes and impacted communities across our region, we want to pause and say thank you to Naramata Centre for showing us what it looks like to love your neighbour.
As wildfires have forced people from their homes across the Okanagan, Naramata Centre made a remarkable choice to cancel all planned summer programming and accommodations and instead open their rooms to people who had nowhere else to sleep. They have welcomed evacuee families, even in the middle of the night, created free programming for children and youth, and opened a food pantry for evacuated households in the area.
Loving our neighbour is not always an abstract idea. Sometimes it looks like opening a spare room. Sometimes it looks like making breakfast for a family who has lost their home. Sometimes it looks like giving children a place to laugh and play while their parents have a moment to breathe. And sometimes it means giving up something we had planned so that someone else can have what they need.
Naramata Centre has been a place of hospitality, community, spiritual life and connection for generations. This summer, they are living that purpose in a particularly profound way.
And this response comes with a real cost. Cancelling weeks of programming and welcoming evacuees means a significant financial impact for the Centre at a time when its long-term sustainability already matters. If you are able, we encourage you to support Naramata Centre and their wildfire response with a donation.
Thank you, Naramata Centre, for reminding us that loving our neighbour is something we do- even when it means setting aside our own plans to make room for someone else in need."
If you would like to support Naramata Centre's wildfire response, you can make a donation here: Support Naramata Centre