Thank you to all of our supporters, donors, and challengers for making Giving Day 2026 a huge success!
BARK therapy dog Sherlock enjoys the sunshine with students from UBC Okanagan. (Chloe Tan photo)
To every single person who supported B.A.R.K. on UBC Giving Day—thank you.
Whether you gave early in the day, rallied your friends to contribute, or made a last-minute gift before the clock ran out, your generosity made a meaningful difference. Every donation, no matter the size, played an important role in helping us reach—and exceed—our goal. Thanks to your generosity, we raised over $44,500 on April 8th! With the support of our incredible community, we once again surpassed our previous records and made this our most successful Giving Day yet.
Out of 118 causes across both UBC campuses, we were proud to finish 5th overall for total funds raised and rank as the top cause in the Okanagan.
Because of you, we also unlocked more challenges than ever before, including The Alumni Multi-Cause Challenge – UBC Okanagan, The Faculty and Staff New Donor Bonus – UBC Okanagan, The Health & Wellness Challenge, The UBCO Early Momentum Match, The Alpine Helicopters Raise the Woof Challenge, The B.A.R.K Donor Challenge, The B.A.R.K Alumni Challenge, The B.A.R.K Faculty, Staff and Emeriti Challenge, The Alpine Helicopters Paws Up Match, and The B.A.R.K Bonus!
We could not have achieved such an incredible Giving Day without each and every one of you. Seeing our extended B.A.R.K. family come together for such an exciting 24 hours meant the world to our staff, volunteers, handlers, and UBCO students—thank you for being part of it.
We are also incredibly grateful to the businesses and individuals in our community who sponsored challenge gifts: Alpine Helicopters, Darren Dahlman, Motor Werke, Maureen Watt, and Neil McEachern. We would also like to thank Sentes-Mercedes-Benz Kelowna and VEDA Exclusive Student Living for their generous leading gifts, and all the individual donors for being supportive of B.A.R.K. and student mental health!
The B.A.R.K. Giving Day Committee—John-Tyler, Freya, Mikaela, Clara, Elena, Mia, and Anya—are so proud of this amazing community and look forward to putting these funds toward improving student and community mental health.
Lastly, thank you to our incredible B.A.R.K. handlers, dogs, and student volunteers who helped make April 8th such a success. We truly couldn’t do this without you!