Nicole Taylor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The World-Spectator
The Rocanville Thrift store has made a donation to both the Rocanville Aquatic Centre and STARS, giving $10,000 to each organization.
“They come out here enough and it’s not cheap to fly those helicopters,” said Thrift Store board member Svein Bjornson on the donation to STARS.
“We like to support them because they do pick up a lot of our people, and it’s a very worthy cause,” said board member Lynda Bock.
They say that the decision to donate to the aquatic centre was also an easy one.
“We’re giving $10,000 to the aquatic centre as well, because it’s a major project and it’s costing a lot of money,” said Bjornson.
They both said that they feel the newly renovated facility will have a positive impact on the community.
“Since it closed for renovations, the whole community is saying that they miss the pool, and we’re hoping that this will help the facility get up and running,” Bock said.
Bjornson noted the possible increase in business.
“They are hoping that the new pool being a four-season facility will help draw business to the town, because other schools will come to use it, and of course everyone goes somewhere to shop when you drop your kid off.”
The two say that it’s a great feeling to be able to donate to not only this, but to many other groups and organizations in Rocanville on an almost monthly basis.
“First, the board sits down and we discuss it to see who’s in need. Sometimes we have organizations or groups requesting funds, so we also take that into consideration,” Bjornson said. “For instance the soccer club needed some help with their soccer posts, and so for their big tournament we also helped out and supplied all the water. When there’s a need we help out with the hall, and a lot of other things in the community. There’s no service group here in town, so we kind of fill that void.”
“It’s a wonderful feeling really, to be able to help out and cover some costs,” said Bock. “We probably do this every month. We normally don’t do this big of an amount but we do usually do just as much in smaller amounts between things like fire and cancer fundraisers, any medical problems. Basically every meeting we have that happy feeling of being able to help someone out.”
Bjornson says that this year, the Thrift Store will have donated even more than in previous years.
“We probably give out almost $60,000 in donations every year. This year will be higher, but it’s usually around $55,000 to $60,000 a year,” she said.
“It feels really good to know that people support us, and we’re able to do the things we do and donate the amounts of money that we do,” said Bock.
Vanora Gagnier was there to accept the donation cheque on behalf of STARS.
“This donation shows the impact of how small communities gathering together for such a great cause. I see at every event that I go to in a rural community how impactful the people of the community can be. Small but mighty.”
She also said that she sees more support come in from smaller towns and more remote communities.
“Per capita, yes definitely. I feel like we see the impact more because more people in smaller communities see STARS. In the cities you have ambulances straight to the big hospital, but in remote locations it’s really hard to get the service you need, and that’s how we started 40 years ago in Calgary.”
