Nine schools across West Nipissing will each receive $10,000 to help fund projects deemed to have a positive impact on the development of students, courtesy of the Caisse Alliance Regional Co-operative Committee.
The committee has been awarding $100,000 from the Caisse Alliance Fund to various community projects since 2018. This year, Marcy Lemieux, regional director for the Nipissing-Center region, says they chose to focus their funding on schools because the ongoing pandemic has impacted their ability to engage in typical fundraising efforts.
“We are proud to invest in schools in our region,” says Lemieux. “All of the projects presented to our regional advisory committee are of great value to schools and students.”
École Jeunesse Active will use the money for a pavilion and outdoor classroom; École St-Joseph, for new water fountains with a filtering system; École La Résurrection, for sprucing up their outdoor courtyard so it can be used year-round; École Christ-Roi, for a school breakfast program, board games for classrooms, and outdoor classroom materials; Our Lady of Sorrows School, for student resources to promote physical, emotional and mental health; École secondaire Franco-Cité, for their living wall; Northern Secondary School, to refurbish their manufacturing lab, purchase two welders and a small engine hoist; and École secondaire Nipissing-Ouest to buy new school sports jerseys.
“I cannot thank Caisse Alliance enough for their generous donation. It is refreshing and important to have community involvement,” beamed Kevin Baker, NSS’ technical education teacher in a Near North School Board press release. “When communities are interested in assisting schools to develop student experiences which reflect real-world opportunities, everybody wins.”
As part of their agreement with the Caisse, each project must be completed by June 2022, and updates will be provided along the way.
Past projects the Caisse Alliance has backed include the Field outdoor ice rink, which got $125,000 over two years, the West Nipissing General Hospital’s CT Scanner, which received $100,000 in 2020, and purchasing a small bus for the Community Living Association for $70,000 in 2019.
