A local family has made a major contribution to Red Deer College that will allow for the creation of three annual student scholarships.
Bill and Irma Welikoklad recently contributed $250,000 to the Building Communities Through Learning campaign.
A total of $50,000 will create an endowment that will support the Welikoklad Family Business Scholarship, awarded once a year for $2,000, and the Home Building Centre Carpentry Scholarship, which awards $1,000 each to two students a year.
RDC will match the donation through the province’s Access to the Future Fund to total $500,000, which “will have a significant impact on RDC support for students for years to come,” according to a news release.
Bill Welikoklad was general foreman on RDC’s initial construction project in 1966, after which he started his own home-building business, Executive Homes. This eventually led to the opening of Executive Home Building Supplies, a contractor lumber yard, now known in the community as Home Building Centre and owned and operated by his son, Jason Welikoklad.