THUNDER BAY — The six winners of this year's Tbaytel for Good Community Fund awards have been announced.
The Wabshkaa Animkii Benesii after-school program at Sherbrooke Public School received $10,000 to provide approximately 25 Indigenous students with warm and vibrant cultural foods, all while traditional knowledge keepers share teachings with students.
“It all started from seeing a need in the school,” said Esther Maud, the program manager.
“There was not going to be any more after-school programming here and from my own lived experience and knowing like exactly what after-school program means to the children, I was quick on that and started to build our team and asking around for supports.”
Maud said that growing up with these cultural teachings and having access to traditional foods can leave a lasting impact on the children, adding that many may not have the opportunity to experience these things at home.
Some of the foods featured in the after-school program include a variety of meat from wild game and native Ontario plants, said Maud.
“Wild rice is one of our favourite ones that we like to make for them,” she said.
“Earlier this year, we did something kind of fun. We indigenized charcuterie boards and so we had bannock and we had moose jerky and baloney, all their favourite traditional foods that they like to eat," she said. "It was fun and we look forward to doing that again with them.”
Maud said she is hoping to expand the after-school program to other schools within the district and beyond.
“They're our future leaders, they are our future generations, it's our jobs to give them that space to be themselves,” she said.
Schreiber Public School also received $10,000 for their Let’s Grow Project, where a garden tower greenhouse will be purchased, with the goal of a larger commercial greenhouse in order to further provide and serve a wider audience in Northern Ontario communities.
Also receiving smaller grants from the campaign are St. Andrew's Dew Drop Inn for hygiene bags, the Fort Frances Community Garden, Camp Quality and Community Clothing Assistance for its Undercover Project.
This year's recipients were selected by a diverse panel of community judges who carefully reviewed and screened 59 submissions based on their impact, beneficiaries, feasibility, and budget.
“It’s overwhelming,” said Kaitlin Gaspar, the communications coordinator for Tbaytel. “You can see here today, with all of the projects, how happy they are and how much the funding will go towards doing good within their community.”
“We want to give back to the communities that we serve,” said Gaspar.
