By Mark Squibb / September 1, 2023
The Town of Witless Bay last week approved a number of different donations and payments to local community groups.
Council approved a donation of $500 to the local Kinsmen Club for their Community Pantry School Supply Drive.
“The Kinsmen recently issued a call for donations to assist with their back to school drive,” said Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard. “And the rising cost of living is certainly having an impact on many families with children going back to school. So, we had a discussion; should we go and buy supplies, or what would be the best thing? And in the end, we decided to donate a cheque because as they get supplies coming in, they’ll be able to fill in the gaps with some money.”
Council also voted to donate $50 to the Alzheimer’s Society for their Coffee Break fundraisers.
Yard explained the Alzheimer’s Society had originally asked the Town to host a Coffee Break fundraiser.
“But, given the fact that we only have a small complement of staff and all of us (who are on council) work during the day so none of us would be able to make it, it’s not really something that we can easily do, and we wouldn’t raise very much money, so instead we decided to give them a $50 cheque,” said Yard.
Council also voted to release a cheque in the amount of $10,000 to the Ken Williams Southern Shore Arena as its annual stabilization fund payment.
Yard noted that council had meant to issue the payment in 2022, but that the cheque had never been issued, hence the reason for this week’s motion.
