Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion
The Kindersley Aquatic Centre will be more accessible than ever with the addition of two PoolPod Platform lift systems from a Jumpstart Accessibility Grant.
Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities announced on Aug. 1 that the Town of Kindersley has been awarded a Jumpstart Accessibility Grant for $115,000 for the installation of new innovative, accessible features at the Kindersley Aquatic Centre.
The grant will be used to help purchase two PoolPod Platform lift systems and the lifts offer most users the ability to independently enter and exit a pool. The grant is part of a new five-year program under Jumpstart’s Play Finds a Way movement. The Play Finds a Way movement is a $50 million fundraising commitment by Canadian Tire Corporation to remove barriers to sport and play.
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Accessibility grants are intended to support capital costs of construction and renovation related to improving physical accessibility to recreation facilities across Canada. Jumpstart aims to provide inclusive play for kids of all abilities, according to the corporation.
Marco Di Buono, the associate vice-president of operations and programs for Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities, said the charity has been going since 2005 and Jumpstart would not exist without support from the corporation, its stores, customers, dealers and corporate representatives.
He noted that the charitable organization has been able to reach approximately 1.6 million children over its 13 years of operation. Di Buono said the charity is about more than making sure kids are able to participate in sports.
“This is about giving every kid the chance to reach their full potential through sports participation,” he said, recognizing the experts know that kids participating in sports tend to perform better in school, in social settings and in terms of their mental and physical health. “This is more than just getting kids active.”
The vice-president said the platform of sport was the logical choice for the charity because Canadian Tire is one of the largest sporting goods retailers in Canada and the corporation has a history of sponsoring athletes and teams.
Di Buono said sport is in the fabric of Canadian Tire. Before the Jumpstart program, the company was involved in other corporate responsibility initiatives and sport became a catalyst and the drive for the company’s corporate responsibility. He said it is all about providing the opportunities to youth.
Jumpstart has predominantly been helping kids in need since 2005, and that has been done by providing grants to individual families to get their kids involved or by providing grants to community groups and organizations.
There are four branches under Play Finds A Way designed to remove the barriers for kids with disabilities. The branches focus on infrastructure, programming, youth activity leaders and coaches, and universally accessible playgrounds. Kindersley’s grant is for infrastructure.
“If you can’t access a recreation facility, forget even having programs there,” he said. “It’s just not going to work, so to make sure that kids of all abilities can access recreation facilities, we’re awarding these infrastructure grants.”
He noted that the charity received more than 200 applications for the Jumpstart Accessibility Grant and Kindersley is one of only nine recipients for the first year. Di Buono said the community could be proud because the innovative approach taken with the PoolPod lifts and the programming that will come as a result helped the application to stand out from all other communities across Canada.
Di Buono said it is incredibly rewarding to be involved with the corporation’s charitable arm. Canadian Tire employees from across the country are aware of Jumpstart, and they help to support it in several ways, he explained.
Mayor Rod Perkins said town officials have been talking about ways to improve accessibility at the aquatic centre for a long time. He noted that the Jumpstart grant allows the town to purchase a lot better equipment to help get people with limited mobility in and out of the pools.
“It’s going to help us,” he said, recognizing that officials were discussing which system the town could afford to improve accessibility at the centre and the grant funding has helped with the decision. “I’m really glad we got it.”
The mayor said officials were discussing whether or not the town could afford a top-of-the-line system or a much more affordable system, but the desired system was going to cost up to $100,000 more than what the town could afford. Perkins said the $115,000 grant is allowing the town to get its top-of-the-line system.
He noted that Chantelle Benjamin, the town’s aquatic manager, had a lead role in securing the accessibility grant. Benjamin has worked for the town since January and finding grants is part of the job, so she did an excellent job on the application, he added.
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