The volunteer Board of the Oliver and District Heritage Society received a wonderful surprise at its regular meeting last week when local MLA Linda Larson arrived without notice to make a delightful announcement accompanied with a cheque in the amount of $15,000. The money will enable the Society to finally undertake a long needed upgrade to its IT system.

“To say that we were gob-smacked with both her unexpected arrival and then her equally unexpected news would be an understatement,” said Society President, Sue Morhun.
”The Board and staff are thrilled. We are so grateful to the Province for their financial support. Without it we would not be able to resolve what has been a long-standing, frustrating issue. Now we can. “

The money will be used to network the two separate museum and archives facilities, improve the security of data, and improve accessibility to the artifact and archival collections in its care. The net result, she said, will be a more effective and efficient organization that will benefit everyone: the public, the collections volunteers, and the staff.

Morhun added that the Society had been attempting for the past 3 years to augment the modest funding it had put aside to resolve the IT issue but efforts had fallen short. A chance comment about the Society’s pressing need apparently fell on receptive ears and eventually caught the interest of the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development headed by Minister Peter Fassbender. “The result was this wonderful, one-time grant. It is a significant amount of money for a non-profit like ours.” she noted.
Morhun credited the efforts of the MLA and her office staff for making the Society’s long-held dream a reality. “We are so grateful to everyone who helped raise the matter along the way, but to them we owe a special debt of gratitude.”

The IT improvements are already underway, she added happily.