News in brief: Canadian Tire to fund new accessible playground

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This article was published 22/05/2018 (3051 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canadian Tire to fund new accessible playground

Canadian Tire is helping the community in River Heights get a jump start on physical activity.

The company’s charity branch announced on May 16 that it will be building a 10,000-square-foot, universally accessible playground in the Grant Park area. The project will be fully funded by Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities and will be a “gift to the City of Winnipeg,” according to a release.

The playground is part of Jumpstart’s Inclusive Playground Project Initiative which will build four new structures across Canada in 2018.

“We are honoured to work with the City of Winnipeg to bring this playground to life through the Play Finds A Way initiative and to bring the joy of play to kids of all abilities,” Scott Fraser, president of Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities, said in a statement. “One of four planned in Canada for 2018, this playground reinforces our commitment to providing kids with the opportunity to participate in sport and play.”

According to officials, the playground will be part of the recreation campus along Grant Avenue, and be located in front of the Pan Am Pool, on the same site as the new public library the City is planning to build.

The groundbreaking for the playground is scheduled for mid-July with an opening date set for early September.

“On behalf of the City of Winnipeg, I’d like to thank Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities for their generous gift of one of Winnipeg’s largest universally accessible playgrounds,” Mayor Brian Bowman said. “This playground will ensure all Winnipeggers have the ability to play and have fun together in one location.”

Fort Garry Rotary Club makes $18,000 donation to the Knowles Centre

The folks behind the Fort Garry Rotary Club’s annual half marathon and five-kilometre fun run donated the proceeds of the last fall’s event.

On May 14, Steve Gallagher, president of the Fort Garry Rotary Club, and Ron Miller of Thomas Design, presented a cheque for $18,000 to the Knowles Centre (2065 Henderson Hwy.).

The money raised by participants in the race, held last September, will benefit the Knowles Centre’s youth and family programming.

Over six years, the event has raised close to $100,000, organizers say. Other beneficiaries of the race include Fort Richmond Collegiate and the Rotary Villa on Hudson Street.

This year the race will be held Sept. 16 and benefit the Knowles Centre and Bruce Oake Recovery Centre.

For more information go to rotarymarathon.ca

Canada Summer Jobs program launches

Winnipeg South MP Terry Duguid and Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour Patty Hajdu visited the Epiphany Children’s Centre (200 Dalhousie Dr.) on May 15 and met with the Canada Summer Jobs students employed by the centre through the program.

The visit came on the heels of an announcement from the federal government that employers are now accepting applications from students age 15 to 30 looking for work.

Approximately 1,700 jobs in Winnipeg have been funded through the program. For more information go to www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/funding/canada-summer-jobs.html