Image Credit: Kent Simmonds / CFJC Today
hospital foundation donation

Kamloops Honda, Priestner family make $80,000 donation to RIH Foundation

Dec 10, 2024 | 4:41 PM

KAMLOOPS — A local car dealership and a philanthropic family recently pooled their resources and made an $80,000 donation to the Royal Inland Hospital Foundation in Kamloops. On Tuesday (Dec. 10), Kamloops Honda staff were on hand to present the sizable cheque to the RIH Foundation.

Kamloops Honda’s general manager, Troy Collinge, says it comes from the local dealership and the family who owns the auto group’s parent company.

“Kamloops Honda is owned by Canada One Auto Group, which is owned by the Priestner family. And the Priestner family are big philanthropists in the community,” explains Collinge. “They believe in giving back and this is just a small gesture to help our community, because our community is what has made us.”

RIH Foundation CEO Heidi Coleman says the money from the organization and the Priestner family will be directed toward the hospital’s renal unit, and youth mental health services in Kamloops.

“Of course, children’s mental health is something, sadly, that we see a lot of. We have our Parkview program which is really helping children with counselling, have a few child psychiatrists who are working with kids, and we also have a project that sends somebody into the rural communities to check on children who have had some issues with mental health,” adds Coleman.