The generous Dorcas Ladies

Image: The Dorcas Ladies
Anne Polishuk, manager of the Osoyoos United Church Thrift Shop.

The Osoyoos Dorcas Ladies are giving $30,000 to the South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation’s campaign to supply the medical equipment for the Penticton Regional Hospital expansion.

The Dorcas Ladies run a thrift store, located in the basement of Osoyoos United Church, and donate all profits to charity. The thrift store, which has been operating for more than 50 years, generates about $50,000 a year in proceeds.

“It still surprises me how well we do with the Thrift Store because Osoyoos is not a large community,” said Marie Therrien, president of the Dorcas Unit. “We have very limited space but we do very well with what we have.”

The gift has enabled the organization to gain provincial approval to have their name associated with a patient room in the new PRH patient care tower, now under construction.

“So many Osoyoos residents end up as patients in Penticton that we decided it would be very worthwhile for our own community to support it,” Therrien said.

The community knows the Dorcas Ladies have a history of giving and Therrien wants emphasize they have not overlooked Osoyoos charities.

“We have been able to do many things locally here in Osoyoos plus contributing to some individuals’ needs as well,” she said.

The Dorcas Ladies will also continue to donate to the local Osoyoos food bank, an Osoyoos Secondary School scholarship, fire relief efforts, a foster child in Africa and the Osoyoos United Church.