Kelowna has kicked off a massive volunteer challenge to mark Canada's 150th anniversary.

The national 150 for 150 Volunteer Challenge calls on city residents to not only meet a federal government challenge of every Canadian to 150 hours this year to worthy causes  but locally, have all Kelownians volunteer for a collective 150,000 hours of volunteer service in 2017.

香蕉视频直播�150,000 is a significant number,香蕉视频直播� said Mayor Colin Basran. 香蕉视频直播淭o volunteer 150,000 hours in a lifetime someone would be giving 6,250 days, or 17 years, or almost two decades or their life. That香蕉视频直播檚 a lot for one person. But imagine a city with a population of about 128,000. What if everyone gave one to two hours of time to volunteering in one year? It香蕉视频直播檚 easy to see how 150,000 hours is easily attainable.香蕉视频直播�

So he issued the challenge Wednesday morning at an event in Stuart Park downtown.

Locally, the 150 for 150 Volunteer Challenge is a partnership between the city, Kelowna Community Resources and Volinspire, a local tech company that has been chosen to be the official national platform to track the level of volunteering across the country during the year-long 150 for 150 campaign.

Volinspire's Jeff Hoffart said residents can track their volunteer hours using the national volunteer tracking platform, powered by  Volinspire. The platform also allows volunteers to search for opportunities, track hours, share volunteer stories and inspire others to give.

香蕉视频直播淲e are honoured that Volinspire was chosen by Volunteer Ottawa to be the official platform for the Canada 150 for 150 Volunteer Challenge,香蕉视频直播� said Hoffart at the kick off event.

The Kelowna event took place exactly 150 days before Canada's upcoming 150th birthday on July 1.

Stephanie Moore, project coordinator with Kelowna Community Resources said there is a myriad of ways to volunteer locally, and all help make the community a better place.

香蕉视频直播淭his initiative is all about giving what you can,香蕉视频直播� she said. 香蕉视频直播淲ith over 370 non-profit organizations in the Central Okanagan, with a variety of opportunities for any age, ability, interest or skill set , there is a myriad of ways to give and contribute to this community challenge.香蕉视频直播�

In addition to challenging city residents, Basran also challenged other Okanagan municipalities to step up and also meet the 150,000 collective volunteer hour target this year.

And he said he plans to take to social media to issue the same challenge to municipalities across the country.