Representatives of the Parkway, Hamiota and Twin Valley Co-ops gathered at the Assiniboine West Watershed District (AWWD) office in Miniota on July 21 for the presentation of a $62,000.00 grant from the Co-op Community Spaces Program.
“We decided to take a district-wide approach” said Resource Technician Kayla Moore, who submitted the application “We usually do projects with different schools, and thought this was a good fit to tie into that.”
This initiative, entitled Centres for Education and Community Connection “adds green space and offers communities the opportunity to learn about environmental and conservation issues,” Moore said. It will include development of an outdoor classroom at Hamiota Collegiate, tree planting at the Hamiota Golf Course, construction of community gardens in Roblin and Russell in cooperation with local schools and enhancement of Arrow Lake Campground in conjunction with Rossburn School and the Rossburn Game and Fish Association.
“We started planning the project as soon as we applied for the grant, so we’ve been in touch with everyone to let them know that the funding is there,” she said. “We've ordered some trees and we're just starting the planning phase for the outdoor gardens. We have two years to finish it, but now we’re getting plans together to get everything to happen. We’re trying to include as many students and community groups as we can.”
In 2020, Co-op Community Spaces will be providing $1 million to 17 community projects from Vancouver Island to Manitoba. The program has donated $9.5 million since its inception.
