Sunshine Village donates $50,000 to Selkirk College 

Sunshine Village Ski and Snowboard resort in Banff, Alberta, donated $50,000 in 2011 towards scholarships for students graduating from Selkirk College’s Ski Resort Operations and Management program (SROAM).

The contribution is the largest single donation in the SROAM program’s 30-year history.

“These funds will provide incentives and support for our students for years to come,” said Selkirk College SROAM Chair Bob Falle.

The donation underpins an endowment fund for annual scholarships for two top academic students graduating from the program. One of the students must prove main residency in Alberta to qualify for the scholarship.

Ralph Scurfield, principal owner, President and CEO of Sunshine Village, is pleased to support the students. “Many of our employees have completed Selkirk’s SROAM program,” Scurfield said. “And we also provide current students with work placements. The program strengthens the ski industry as a whole, so it makes sense for us to support the college in this way.”

Falle said the relationship between Selkirk and Sunshine has always been mutually beneficial. “Sunshine Village has been a strong backer of our program from Day 1. In fact, I still have a letter of support on file from 1979 that former general manager John Gow wrote. He saw the need to create a program for aspiring ski area managers and this was his way of reinforcing our initiative.”