Bruce Power will invest another $400,000 in local Indigenous community initiatives in 2018.
Launched in 2016, Bruce Power’s Indigenous Community Investment Fund has focused its annual support on cultural, social, educational, environmental, health and wellness, skills training and youth developmental opportunities in the communities of the Saugeen and Nawash Unceded First Nations, as well as the Historic Saugeen Métis and the Métis Nation of Ontario.
In 2018, Bruce Power’s support will include:
• The Nawash Home and Community Care Program for its Basic Shelf Program, uniforms, and medical bags.
• Investing in Saugeen’s library expansion and construction of a building for the food bank.
• Métis Nation of Ontario support for cultural, and health and wellness programs and initiatives.
• Historic Saugeen Métis support for their annual Rendezvous.
• The Nawash Prayer Walk for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIWG), which is a cross-country walk by community members to raise awareness of MMIWG.
• Programs that support students at the elementary, secondary and post-secondary levels at Nawash.
• Annual commitments to Saugeen and Nawash to their Little NHL programs, community sports funds and Pow Wows.
• A sweat lodge shelter for traditional healing practices on Saugeen, as well as the Aboriginal Healthy Babies Healthy Children Program.
• Assisting the Nawash Water Development Committee, which studies the condition of the ground and surface water sources in the community to ensure the safety of drinking water.
“We’re proud to work with Indigenous communities to pinpoint the initiatives that are important to them and their people, and focus our support on these,” said Mike Rencheck, Bruce Power’s President and CEO. “Local Indigenous communities continue to provide many educational, cultural, and health and wellness opportunities to their residents, and we are glad our Indigenous Community Investment Fund can help these programs continue to be successful.”
A number of organizations that have partnered with Saugeen and Nawash will also receive funding from Bruce Power’s Community Investment and Sponsorship Program this year. Some include:
• Canadian Feed the Children, which works with Nawash to provide holistic and integrated child and youth-centred programs focusing on four areas – student and family nutrition; nutrition education; community engagement; and land-based education and skills building. Bruce Power will provide $150,000 over three years to this program.
• Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre receives annual sponsorship for its First Nations Interpretation Program. This annual summer program is led by members of Saugeen and Nawash, who demonstrate their artisan-skills and cultural practices for the museum’s visitors.
• Elephant Thoughts receives Bruce Power sponsorship to deliver science-based, curriculum-linked programs in remote Indigenous communities, as well as land-based outdoor education programs in the SON communities.
• The University of Waterloo’s Engineering Science Quest program is a camp run at Saugeen where participants are exposed to a wide variety of subjects such as biology, chemistry, electricity, engineering and design. ESQ has been held in Saugeen for several years with the support of Bruce Power sponsorship.
• Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Camp has received Bruce Power sponsorship to run a pilot project in the SON communities, which will provide inspirational and fun programming for children, incorporating Indigenous history and culture through, or in conjunction with, STEM-based activities. This is a pilot project that, if successful, could be transferred to other First Nation communities.
Saugeen First Nation Chief Lester Anoquot said his community is focused on implementing programs that support the health and wellness of its members, as well as those that promote STEM education.
“With the support from the Indigenous Community Investment Fund, we will be able to accomplish some very important goals related to these areas,” Chief Anoquot said. “We are particularly pleased that the library and food bank projects received a boost from Bruce Power, and I look forward to the benefits our community will see as a result of these projects being completed.”
