Organizations in Burns Lake are set to receive more than $80,000 in grant funding from the Nechako-Kitamaat Development Fund (NKDF), out of a total of $139,702 funding for the region.
Ride Burns, formerly known as the Burns Lake Mountain Biking Club, will be receiving $30,000 for the Village Connector and Uptrack Project. Patti dube, the president for the club expressed their gratitude and said they were thrilled about the grant. She also gave a rough timeline of three years, for the project completion and said that once the eight kilometres uptrack from Boer Mountain is completed, it would provide people “access to the top of the mountain without having to use the road.” Dube informed that the overall project will cost the club roughly $200,000 in total.
RELATED: NKDF grants $62, 000 to Burns Lake projects in 2019
The NKDF also awarded $12,325 to the Burns Lake Snowmobile Club to construct a gazebo at the Nellian Lake day site. “The snowmobile club is building a gazebo on our top trails, to make a rest-area type thing and we are also working on putting out a couple of camp sites out there,” informed Dennis Firomski, the president of the Burns Lake Snowmobile Club. The club is still shy of meeting its goal for the project but they are in waiting on a couple of more grants. Once they have their funding in place, Firomski said that they would are hoping to finish the project by this fall. “We are very positive about the whole thing and we are very glad that they (NKDF) gave us some money for this.” Firomski also said that he hoped to find more volunteers to help with the project as most of the funding will go towards procuring the materials.
The Regional District of Bulkley Nechako (RDBN) also received $40,000 to purchase a new fire truck for the Southside Volunteer Fire department.
Other parties receiving the grant money are the Village of Fraser Lake, that would be receiving $43,963 for its ammonia refrigeration system at the Fraser Lake Arena and $2,914 for the Disability Doors Assist project. The Nechako Valley Regional Cattleman’s Association would also receive $6,500 for its Building Resilience & Adaptation in Agriculture-Responding to Insect Pests project.
NKDF Chair Cindy Shelford said about the grant, “From local food production to developing community outdoor recreational infrastructure these projects are vital to strengthening our communities and contributing to COVID-19 recovery.”
The next application deadline is July 28, 2020. However, for those seeking more information, could visit the NKDF website or go to their Facebook page. The NKDF Society, that was founded in 1997, has been encouraging local governments, First Nations governments and other non-profits to apply for their grants.
Priyanka Ketkar
Multimedia journalist
priyanka.ketkar@ldnews.net
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