Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

CHESTERFIELD INLET
The Siqiniq Day Care in Chesterfield Inlet raised $2,700 from a super raffle it sponsored this past month.

Pujjuut Putulik displays the raccoon skin he won in a raffle to support a day care in Chesterfield Inlet. - photo courtesy of Ana Leishman

The proceeds will go towards costs to maintain the daycare, fuel and repairs.

Committee chairperson Glen Brocklebank said the day care owes a huge debt of gratitude to those who provided prizes for the raffle.

He said the donated items had a total value of about $3,000.

"Our day care has struggled with having enough funds to stay open, pay for fuel and repairs that need to be made, and offer programming," said Brocklebank.

"One of our board members, Vicki Tanuyak, wrote a bunch of letters to send to various organizations.

"We received huge support from both in and outside of town, so we ran a month-long raffle that brought in $2,700.

"That's a huge amount for a small town and we really appreciate what everyone did for us, both through their generous donations and by buying so many tickets."

Joining Brocklebank and Tanuyak on the day care board are Ana Leishman and Jolene Ippiak.

Siqiniq employs a manager, Marlene Nanaout, and caregivers Ashley Tanuyak and Billie-Jo Putulik to take care of 12 full-time kids.

There are also six children on a stand-by list, who are called when one or more of the regular children can't attend.

The Siqiniq Day Care receives funding for wages from Kivalliq Partners.

The Department of Education, based on attendance, helps cover the operation and maintenance.

The day care purchased a generator and plasma car for its raffle.

It received donations of 30 furs from Gaston Henry Fourrures in Quebec, help from the Chesterfield Inlet Development Corp. and the Hamlet of Chesterfield Inlet to purchase the generator and plasma car, a washer and vacuum from the Chesterfield Inlet Housing Association, 100 kg of freight from First Air, two children's bikes from the Pitsiulak Coop and one children's bike from the Northern store.

Brocklebank said Bill Worb Furs also donated items, but they didn't make it to Chester in time for the draw, so a mini-draw will be held when they arrive.

He said like many day cares, Siqiniq often struggles at the end of the month to pay its bills.

"The original board elected to renovate an old existing building, rather than build a new one.

"So, we're dealing with an old building that's a challenge to maintain.

"We've made the inside look very good, but the insulation isn't great and the nuts and bolts of the building are very old.

"We're at the maximum of children we can take right now - four kids aged six months to two years and eight kids from three to kindergarten age - so, we'd like to expand our capacity at some point because there's a definite need in the community."

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