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IQALUIT
Every little bit helps, and that's the motto of Donna and Kim Waters, the owners of Iqaluit's Water's Edge Seafood and Steakhouse restaurant and Kickin' Caribou pub. Each Wednesday and Friday, their patrons pay a $2 cover charge to listen to live music, and all of the proceeds go to worthy causes in Nunavut.

Water's Edge Seafood and Steakhouse and Kickin' Caribou pub co-owners Donna Waters, left, and her sister Kim give back to the community that welcomed them more than 20 years ago. Each Wednesday and Friday, patrons enjoying live music donate a $2 cover charge to support different local causes, which change each month. - Casey Lessard/NNSL photo

"The program is called Ikajuqti Toonies, which means 'helper toonies,'" Donna said. "A lot of places that have live music have a cover charge. We didn't really want to charge people to come and listen to the music, but thought 'wouldn't it be interesting to charge a small sum that everyone can afford and contribute it to a worthy cause?'"

The definition of a worthy cause is wide open, and the recipients do not need to be registered charities. Among the groups benefiting from the fundraising initiative are the Iqaluit humane society, the women's shelter and the Iqaluit library. September's funds went to the Iqaluit group home. Depending on the season, the donation ranges from $1,000 to $1,500, Donna said.

"We need every penny we can get for our daily operations," said Sheila Levy, executive director of the Kamatsiaqtut help line, which benefited from the program this summer. "The money we get from the government doesn't even cover our rent, let alone all of the telephone and other costs the help line has. We wouldn't be able to exist without the support of the community."

For Donna Waters, who is celebrating her 25th anniversary of living in the North this year, it's a way to give back to the communities that have meant so much to her and her sister over the years.

"I feel an umbilical tie to this place," she said. "Naturally, I want to contribute."

Arriving in Iglulik as a biology student in 1986, Donna came to the North by accident after trying to buy some time to finish her thesis.

"I asked him (professor), 'when we do we get to study anything bigger than mice?' He said, 'what do you want to study?' Hoping to get a few more extra days, I said 'caribou.' He said 'OK.' Before I knew it, I was writing up a proposal to study caribou, and then I was up in the Arctic in Iglulik.

"We flew into an abandoned DEW line station in the middle of nowhere, and there was nothing there. To be honest, I was terrified before I came, and the minute my foot stepped onto Iglulik soil something happened. I exhaled, and I just loved it from the get-go. I met all kinds of amazing people and I felt like I belonged here."

She returned the following year to do more research, and "never went home," she said. She began living in Iqaluit.

Her sister, Kim, came for a visit in 1990, and stayed as well.

"I really like it here," she said. "I love Iqaluit. It's going to be very hard to leave."

As time has gone by, Kim has seen the growing need for community support.

"Young people today don't have the family support we had," she said. "We have, many times, hired from the battered women's shelter, which has helped them get an apartment of their own."

When the sisters entered the restaurant business, they wondered what they could do to give back. One of their main initiatives is to have a staff – currently 26 workers – that consists of at least 50 per cent Inuit. The Ikajuqti Toonies program is just another way to support the community.

"We're not giving away millions but every little bit helps. It makes us feel really good," Donna said.

"They're doing the job," Kim said of the charities. "We're just helping."

Donna said the business would be able to donate an additional $6,000 a year if a proposed seating capacity increase goes ahead, which would bring the business' seating capacity to 80 seats from 60. The liquor board will hear public input on the matter Oct. 4.

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