Co-op is helping to build a place for everyone in Hafford with funding for the Hafford and District Recreation Board.
The Co-op Community Spaces Program is providing $54,000 to help turn an abandoned and contaminated railroad bed into a new park. The Hafford Park and Northern Gateway will honour the veterans and seniors who lived in the town and surrounding area while adding green space to the community, which falls within the UNESCO Redberry Lake Biosphere Reserve.
“The Hafford and District Recreation Board Inc. is pleased to have been successful in the application to the Co-op Community Spaces Program. Our project will be spearheaded by the Centennial Committee and will create a new green space in the community by reclaiming a brown field site into a community park and gateway at Hafford and adjacent to Highway 40, said Meaghan Hawrysh, administrator of the Hafford and District Recreation Board.
“The very much needed funding for the project will be provided by Co-op Community Spaces with assistance from participating municipalities and community volunteers. This exciting new venture will be commencing immediately with completion anticipated for July of 2019,”
Co-op Community Spaces is investing in community projects across Western Canada, from Vancouver Island through to Manitoba. According to a press release, the program helps create, protect and improve projects dedicated to environmental conservation, recreation and urban agriculture.
This year, 24 organizations will receive a total $2 million for community projects. Since 2015, Co-op Community Spaces has donated $6.5 million to 88 projects.
“Co-op Community Spaces is an exciting program that provides another opportunity for Co-op to give back and invest in local projects across Western Canada,” said Kelly Remenda, general manager of Hafford Co-op.
“By supporting projects like this, we’re helping to build and support a vibrant and healthy community where people can come together.”
The program is administered by Federated Co-operatives Limited on behalf of more than 180 independent retail co-operatives across Western Canada that form the Co-operative Retailing System.
