Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The non-profit United Way of Yellowknife has $70,000 in funding it plans to give away to registered charities across the NWT and is putting out a call for applications.

Mariah O'Connor-Mossman from Yellowknife, left, and Alexandra James from Fort Smith enjoy some riverside hotdogs while canoeing down the Mackenzie River from Fort Simpson to Willow Lake in July 2010 as part of the Taiga Adventure Camp. - photo courtesy of Kirsten Carthew

Charities that have received funding previously say the United Way support makes a huge difference.

Last year, Taiga Adventure Camp received $5,600 in funding. Taiga offers a camping experience to girls aged 11 to 17 from across the NWT and focuses on developing leadership and confidence while learning traditional knowledge and respect for self, others and the land.

Taiga Adventure Camp used the money to take on more participants and have more programming available. The camp subsidizes the travelling costs for the girls, charging $250 for nine days on the land or just 10 per cent of the actual cost of $2,500 per camper.

"The United Way funding is crucial to our overall budget - we really run a tight budget, said Kirsten Carthew, a member of the Taiga Adventure Camp Advisory Board. "We wouldn't have been able to offer the camp to the same degree that we were able to offer last year.

"It was a huge success."

Carthew says United Way provides support to registered charities that would otherwise be overlooked.

"I think for organizations like ourselves, the United Way, because of its mandate to improve communities, is really important to the North," she said. "There are so many opportunities to be had here and so many great programs to deliver, but they need funding and there are very few organizations that offer that kind of funding support.

"So, the United Way is particularly valuable to us," said Carthew.

Last year the Yellowknife United Way helped 60 organizations, giving out $96,000 in total - $64,000 to Yellowknife charities and the rest to other Canadian charities that donors specified should receive support.

United Way chair David Connelly said this year the board has made a strategic decision to evolve from a strictly Yellowknife board to an NWT-wide organization. In part, the group wanted to minimize administration and maximize the contribution to communities. Connelly said the United Way is not just about doling out money.

"Not only to give them money but also one of our goals is to help them improve governance, for example, or to help them find synergy amongst themselves so they can be more effective at their end," he said. "Try to help the non-profits to be more effective and efficient in achieving their goals with their clients."

St. John Ambulance in the NWT and Nunavut received $12,000 last year from United Way. Christine Armstrong, director of community services, said a summer camp was offered that had not been run the previous two years because a lack of funding.

"I thank them very much for their support ," she said. "They are so generous and, being a charity, it just makes a difference for being able to do something special for children and for volunteers and being able to provide more care for the community and professionalism.".

Smart Communities Society used the $5,000 it received from United Way last year to ship computers to schools, libraries and other non-profits in as many as 30 NWT communities.

"It certainty made it easier for us," said executive director Cheryl Deforest. "We were able to form a few more partnerships because of it - we formed a partnership with the Center for Northern Families as a direct result of the money, so it had a great ripple effect in the community."

The deadline to apply for funding from the United Way this year is Aug. 15

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.