Camp funding is no small cookie
Yellowknife Girl Guides awarded $125,000 for renovations at Dechinta University
Beth Brown
Northern News Services
Friday, August 26, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Local Girl Guides and Brownies are getting their summer camp upgraded to a year-round camp.
The Yellowknife District Girl Guides of Canada has been awarded $125,000 for renovations to its recreation facility, Camp Dechinta, near Prelude Lake Territorial Park. The money will be used to winterize the site's main cabin and build an expansion that will help with separation of sleeping, cooking and activity areas.
Jennie Rausch, Camp Dechinta committee co-chair and guider of 35 years says that to match the awarded amount with the organizations regular fund raising model, "we would need to sell almost 20,000 boxes of cookies."
At the Yellowknife pace of selling 4,800 boxes annually, with 65 cents received locally for each box, that could take up to 40 years.
The funding comes as part of the Canada 150 Infrastructure Program. The $300-million federal project, in recognition of the 150th anniversary of Confederation, funds upgrades to public spaces like parks, arenas and community centres. In the North, $12.8 million is being delivered through the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency.
The goal in winterizing Camp Dechinta is to be able to use the camp during the school year when the majority of Guide programs happen.
"When I was a girl we could camp there in the winter," said Rausch. "There's nowhere else for these girls to camp, compared to southern Girl Guides who have so many more resources available."
There are around 100 Girl Guides in the Yellowknife district. The private camp provides a safe venue for inspiring confidence and teaching leadership skills.
Rausch says the camp is safe to use, but is in need of a lot of cosmetic work to make it more inviting for first-time campers. For example, Dechinta Camp's main lodge is a trailer that was donated to the Girl Guides in the late 1970s.
"Right now it's so sad looking," she said.
A revitalization committee was created in the early 2000s and small renovations have since been made to the tent platforms and outhouses.
"The amount of money that the building needed was overwhelming to come up with," said Rausch.
So, the Yellowknife District Girl Guides applied for the Canada 150 funding this past spring.
"It is a resource for the community," says Rausch. "We don't rent it, it's not a moneymaking venture." Leasing agreements for the camp make it nearly free for other organizations to use - they just have to clean up after themselves and cover the cost of propane.
Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, Navdeep Bains, said in a news release about the program, "Projects such as these improve the places where we gather as Canadians and create spaces where youth can acquire diverse skills to prepare themselves for their future."
Most of the funding is going towards material purchases while volunteers are providing the labour.
Yellowknife District Girl Guides plans to have the majority of renovations completed by next season, in time for a grand Canada Day opening.
