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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - At least that's what new Mildred Hall student Austin Brown hopes. The nine-year-old recently donated all the money he raised at a garage sale to help the school get its Jiewa Park project off the ground.

"I heard about it at the trade show," the diminutive investor said. "Maybe I could help get it up and running for when I started here."

Yk1 chair Duff Spence addresses the crowd during a tree-planting ceremony at Mildred Hall school in Yellowknife. He announced several new sponsors for Jiewa Park, the planned greening of the school's surrounding area. - photo courtesy of Adam K. Johnson

Austin was one of a number of new sponsors announced Wednesday morning during a tree-planting ceremony in front of Mildred Hall school.

The Yellowknife Community Association presented the project with a cheque for $17,500, while Rio Tinto Diavik, Arctic Farmer and Adam Dental Clinic pledged further support, along with a number of already-established sponsors.

Arctic Farmer and Adam Dental paid for new trees in the plaza off Franklin Avenue. Diavik has committed to work with Arctic Farmer to train and employ youth from the SideDoor Youth Centre to work on the park next summer.

"It's nice to get some momentum," said Yk1 chair Duff Spence, who made the announcements.

This summer Jiewa Park appeared to have stalled. Organizers said the fundraising drive for the Arctic Winter Games had all but sucked the city dry and new sponsors were in short supply. But not for long, apparently.

"The community has really come out and supported this project," Spence said.

He thanked Tait Communications - which co-ordinates fundraising for the school - for that.

"They have been very successful."

Though money is finally coming in, Spence wouldn't lay out a timeline for completing the park. From the beginning, the park was planned to be funded (and built) one phase at a time.

"We were a little over-optimistic," Spence said. "We're hoping to get some new equipment for next year."

Plans for Jiewa Park include two lighted basketball courts, a cultural area and a ceremonial circle, as well as turning the massive gravel pit in front of the school into green space.

While budgeted at around $750,000 in 2005, total costs for the park have grown to around $1.6 million, as the price of labour and materials have risen.

"We have support from our key sponsors," Spence said. "We'll build and grow from there."

Aside from the usual cheque presentations and speeches, a group of Grade 8 students were also on hand in the brisk weather to show off an artistic creation.

In the course of an afternoon, the students built a colourful and glittery cardboard replica bench in honour of the new buildings and equipment the school hopes to get one day.

As the students hurried back to class, Grade 8 students Olivia Williams and Paige Elkin carried the artwork. Both said they're excited to see what the developments will look like in the future.

"It's going to look pretty cool," Elkin said, while Williams added, "It will feel so good to see it done."

However, both were sad their tenures at Mildred Hall would be over before they saw the end result.

"The little kids will like it better than us anyway," Elkin said.