St. Laurent Legion gets $170K gift

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This article was published 26/06/2019 (2471 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A businessman has made a huge donation to the St. Laurent legion, Canada’s only Métis legion.

“Veterans, to me, have given us all of the freedoms in the world that we enjoy today,” said Sean McCoshen.

He said he received a request to donate $170,000 to the St. Laurent Royal Canadian Legion Métis Branch No. 250 and was glad to help.

“I felt strongly that Canada’s veterans need to be respected and taken care of and I also feel strongly towards our First Peoples. So it feels like a very nice thing to do and it was something that I’m very proud of. I hope it’s a shining example for other people in this province,” McCoshen said.

While McCoshen was born in New York, he spent his formative years in Winnipeg and splits his time between Winnipeg, Vancouver and Los Angeles.

McCoshen said he feels the need to give back to the place that raised him.

“If I’m able to do this, I want to do this, and I want other people to give in time. It doesn’t necessarily mean you have to cut a cheque for $170,000. I think it means that you’ve got to go out and do something that’s dear to your heart.

The legion in St. Laurent, which is 95 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, was established in the mid-1980s. It serves the RM of St. Laurent and surrounding communities by hosting cultural events and bingo nights.

The donation will be used to upgrade the washrooms, furnishings, ventilation system, carpets and lighting and build an outdoor patio.

The St. Laurent legion is one of 1,400 branches across the country that provide services to Canadian Armed Forces veterans and RCMP members.

Last year, McCoshen donated $2 million to Canada’s Diversity Gardens, the final phase in redeveloping Assiniboine Park.

nadya.pankiw@freepress.mb.ca