UPDATE: BC Hydro’s GO Fund benefits three local non-profit associations

UPDATE: This article has been updated to include a statement from the Wellness Truth and Family Foundation that was provided after publication.

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Three local nonprofit organizations are receiving a portion of nearly $23,000 as part of BC Hydro’s commitment to supporting the Peace region as it builds the Site C dam.

The money is being provided through BC Hydro’s “Generate Opportunities” (GO) Fund, administered by the Northern Development Initiative Trust, to support organizations that benefit seniors, children and other vulnerable groups.

The North Peace Gymnastic Association, based out of Fort St. John, is receiving $5,350 to put towards “inclusive, adapted gymnastics programs for children with diverse abilities,” according to a press release from BC Hydro.

Chantelle Yates, the association’s executive director, says the money will be used to fund a program in partnership with School District 60.

“We have 50 children who come every week from the district schools, and they participate in movement-based activities, so fundamental movement, strength and conditioning, flexibility, all through gymnastics skills.”

Starting this year, the association needed outside funding to run that program. 

Yates says thanks to the investment from BC Hydro, children will be able to participate at no cost to families from December until June.

The Wellness Truth and Family Foundation (WTTF) will receive $10,000 as part of this latest investment, alongside the Chetwynd Public Library Association, which is getting $7,500.

The release says the WTTF money will go towards supporting “women recovering from experiences of domestic violence and other traumatic events.”

WTTF Executive Director Lisa Jewell says her team is extremely grateful to have been chosen for the grant.

“It will be used to pay for counselling sessions with registered social workers or counsellors,” Jewell says.

She says her team has also applied to use some funding to hire some new educators to work teach both adult and youth-oriented group classes.

Meanwhile, it says the money for the Chetwynd Public Library Association is meant to “help provide nutritious snacks and meals for vulnerable populations across all its library programs.”

Energeticcity.ca reached out to both organizations for comment, and neither responded in time for publication.

To date, $850,081 has been provided to 97 projects since the GO fund was created in September of 2016. Other previous beneficiaries include the Totem Nursery Preschool Society, the Hope for Health Society in Hudson’s Hope, and the Fort St. John Public Library.