A long list of local community groups will receive more than $100,000 after Whitehorse city council approved the city’s fall recreation grants along with special event grants for 2022 at its Nov. 15 meeting.
Council voted in favour of the grants in separate votes that saw $54,850 approved for fall recreation grants and $50,000 approved for special events and festivals along with $44,765 worth of in-kind support.
Fall recreation grants
The recreation grants range from $1,100 to $7,000.
The lowest of the grants are in a category funded by the city for operational costs. A total of five different organizations will each receive the $1,100 grants, including the Canadian - Filipino Sports Association of Yukon, Larrikin Entertainment, the Whitehorse Curling Club, the Yukon Theatre for Young People, and the Yukon Arts Society.
The remaining funds for recreation grants come for the Community Lotteries program.
In addition to the operational grant, the Yukon Theatre for Young People and the Yukon Arts Society are among three organizations — also including the Learning Disabilities Association of the Yukon (LDAY) — that will receive the largest of the recreation grants at $7,000 each from Lotteries.
While LDAY will use the funds for its Camp Raven day camp program, the Yukon Arts Society plans to offer arts and crafts programming, and the Yukon Theatre of Young People will put the grant towards a theatrical performance.
Other recreation grants include $2,040 to Chickadees Playschool Association for programming; $2,968 to the Granger Community Association for rink nets; $3,426 for the Filipino sports association for a winter sports tournament; $3,675 to the Japanese Canadian Association of the Yukon for equipment; $5,000 to the Yukon Film Society for its Keeping Whitehorse Cinema Alive project; $5,400 to the Community Choir of Whitehorse with $3,600 of that for a video production and $1,800 for the choral program; and $5,850 to the Arctic Edge Skating Club for its Gold Nugget Championships.
A total of $241,238 was available in 2021 and split between the spring and fall grants.
“The recreation grant task force received and reviewed 15 applications totaling $70,709.54 in requests,” program lead hand Keri Rutherford stated in a previous report to council.
Special events grant
Coun. Mellisa Murray did not vote on the special events grants, declaring a conflict and leaving council chambers while the rest of council voted in favour of approval.
The largest of the cash grants for special events will see $6,000 each go to the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous Society for its Yukon Rendezvous Festival from Feb. 11 to 27; the Yukon Quest International Association for its sled dog race from Feb. 13 to 19; Yukon First Nations Culture and Tourism for the Adaka Cultural Festival 2022 from June 30 to July 7; and the Heart of Riverdale Community Association’s CypherFest Street Dance and Music Festival from July 21 to 24.
With the exception of the Heart of Riverdale, each of those organizations will also receive in-kind assistance worth $22,493 for Rendezvous, $5,256 for the Quest, and $7,216 for Adaka.
Other special event grants will see $1,500 each for the Association franco-yukonnaise for its Solstice Saint-Jean on June 23 and the Yukon First Nation Chamber of Commerce for its Re-Awakening event Oct. 14.
The Yukon Circus Society will receive $1,700 for Dogtown: The Musical from Sept. 6 to 10.
The Yukon Arts Centre will be provided $2,500 for its Midnight Sun Moppets Children’s Festival on May 23 with $4,000 identified for each the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre’s National Indigenous People’s Day celebrations on June 21 and Nakai Theatre’s Pivot Festival from Jan. 19 to 31.
A total of $5,000 will go to each the Yukon Film Society’s Available Light Film Festival from Feb. 4 to 21, and the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 254 for its Canada Day events on July 1. Each is also eligible for in-kind support valued at $5,670 for the film society and $4,129 for the Legion.
“The City of Whitehorse is committed to the development and support of special community events and festival celebrations in Whitehorse that provide vibrant and diverse community experiences for both residents and visitors,” acting parks and recreation manager Arbor Webster said in an earlier report to council about the grants.
Contact Stephanie Waddell at stephanie.waddell@yukon-news.com