Foundry Fort St. John receives $50K for new centre

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The Foundry Fort St. John has received a donation of $50,000 for its new centre. 

The donation came from the Rotary Club of Fort St. John and the Sunrise Rotary Club of Fort St. John, and will be used to sponsor a medical clinic room for primary care in the new center. 

The Foundry’s community development and project lead, Asuncion Sta. Maria, said the Rotary club and the Sunrise Rotary contributed $25,000 each for this donation. 

“Foundry Fort St. John will be building a new center for youth to cater to [the] needs of young people aged 12 to 24, their families and caregivers, and we are doing our capital campaign,” Sta. Maria said. 

The center will provide primary care, physical and sexual health, mental health support, assistance with work and education, community services, peer support, and support for substance use. 

She added: “We are hoping to open our doors in 2018, but we don’t have [a] definite date yet.” 

“We are still waiting for some pieces to be put together. We will do an announcement for sure once we have the location confirmed.”

Pam Koehn, the Foundry’s capital campaign manager, noted the Foundry’s Capital Campaign needs to raise approximately $3.5 million to open the doors of Foundry Fort St. John. 

The campaign has received $1.5 million for the Foundry’s central office, $400,000 from the federal and provincial government and $250,000 from the Peace River Regional District. 

Koehn said: “I need to raise around $1 million in [the] community.” 

Additionally, the Fort St. John Firefighter Charitable Association has also contributed $100,000 towards the campaign. 

This centre will be the first Foundry centre in the city, with the closest centre located in Prince George. 

Koehn estimates about 50 percent of the local population is under 30, underscoring the high need for the center and youth services. 

According to Sunrise Rotary Club of Fort St. John’s president, Nelson Stowe, the Rotary Clubs of Fort St. John are service clubs which participate in fundraisers to raise money that is returned to the community. 

Stowe said: “We try [to] look at all aspects of the asks, we get many asks from different organizations in the community and we do our best to try to find what’s best to serve our community.” 

The Foundry approached the club with their efforts and what they are building in Fort St. John. 

“We as a club looked at what they’re doing, and it meets all the criteria [that] Rotary tries to do,” he added. 

The club, he said, has a democratic process, and felt this was the best use of the money as it will go towards the mental well-being of the youth in the community. 

When asked how the funds were collected, he noted: “The Rotary Clubs have numerous fundraisers throughout the year, we fundraise through drive-through breakfasts, Rib Fest every summer, bottle drives, colour run and through Oktoberfest, that’s where the funds come from.” 

Sta. Maria said the Foundry is “very thankful and grateful” to the Sunrise Rotary Club and the Rotary Club of Fort St. John for their donation. 

She also wanted to give a “shout out” to the Fort St. John community for its support. 

“Without the support of the community, they [the clubs] wouldn’t be able to have those funds to share [it with] organizations who need it,” she explained. 

“They put out a lot of different events and fundraisers during the year…our community supports them really well, so this is all about working together, and that’s what we’re seeing here.”