The local response to the call for help in the May 4 edition of the Nelson Star has been amazing. Within 14 days, local businesses and citizens responded by donating sufficient funds to the Friends of West Kootenay Parks Society to allow the Kokanee Creek Nature Centre to proceed with planning to provide their flagship interpretation programs this summer.
And it gets better – a local business and a service organization made significant donations directly to the Nature Centre to help them with their operating costs (for a list of all the businesses that have contributed, visit the Kokanee Creek Nature Centre Facebook page).
With the mainstay programs guaranteed for this summer, the Friends of West Kootenay Parks have turned their attention to the Kokanee Salmon School Program that is presented in the fall during the salmon spawning run. The Osprey Foundation granted the Friends’ request for $5,000 that will be allocated to the program and, along with a commitment from the Friends for support in the amount of $2,400, Masse Environmental Consultants and Spearhead Timberworks made major contributions.
The students at Hume School were so concerned about the potential loss of the salmon program that they held a swim-a-thon that generated $1,600! With this incredible generosity and effort from the community, the salmon program is within $900 of reaching the amount necessary to hire the interpreters who make this program such a local success story.
If you would like help support the Kokanee Salmon School Program, make a donation to the Friends of West Kootenay Parks Society through our website fwkp.ca (click on the CanadaHelps button on the home page to donate and get a tax receipt) or make an e-transfer donation to the Friends at contactus@fwkp.ca (specify the Nature Centre in the notes – donations of $10 or more will receive a tax receipt, full name and address required).
The Nature Centre is also now accepting direct donations, and donations of $10 or more made at the Centre to the Friends of West Kootenay Parks will receive a tax receipt.
