Humane Society, Curling Club request funding in city’s 2023 budget

“As a result of last year’s assistance, we have been able to better meet our needs and come closer to balancing our finances,” he said in his report. “We would again request the amount of $35,000, if the City of North Battleford is able to support us.”

The facility has been operating for 10 years, offering curling programs to the community. Coming up in 2023, the club will host the Scotties Last Chance Bonspiel for ladies the first week of January. Then, it will hold the Mixed Provincial Curling Championship in March.

“These events will attract large numbers of curlers and fans, both from [in and] out of town, and will have a positive impact to our facility and our communities,” Gabert said.

He said since the number of curlers is down about 30 to 35 curlers from prior years, the centre is working to increase its memberships by offering adults and youth learn-to-curl programs at various times during the year, as an incentive to encourage more people to join.

The facility is also reaching out to area First Nation communities to recruit more members.

Gabert said the curling centre had a difficult time over the past nine years balancing its books, and is working on improving that for the future.

Some of the more costly fees the facility faces include high increases in its electricity and natural gas costs.

For the months when the facility is not used for curling, in the off-season, Gabert said the centre is used for events, rentals and fundraisers whenever possible to bring in revenue.

“We’re trying to do more of that throughout the year,” he said.

The Battlefords Humane Society also made a request for funding for the year ahead.

David Gubbe (board president) and Danielle Elder (secretary) presented during the meeting.

Elder said, in summary, the amount the organization currently receives from the city is a $150,000 per year operating grant, based on its current agreement that has been running for several years. Due to inflation, the financial impact from the pandemic, and an increase in the number of animals coming in for care, as well as increased expenses, such as veterinary services costs, the society is in need of more operational funding. As a result, it is asking for a 10 per cent increase, or $165,000 per year starting in 2023.

Elder said this year there was a large outbreak of distemper in dogs in the community that impacted the society’s costs significantly in 2022.

As well, due to the pandemic, the organization could not hold its big fundraiser galas over the past couple of years, which also affected costs.

The non-profit is currently in the process of building a new shelter just north of North Battleford, with the construction expected to start in the spring of 2023. The organization is also building a separate kennel at the same location that is scheduled to open in December of 2022, which will bring in more revenue and help with operational costs of the new shelter.

Gubbe said the Humane Society in North Battleford, which operates the shelter, also provides a service to the community as a whole by looking after the health needs of the animals in its care.

“We look after the pound service for the city. But in addition to that… all animals that enter our facility shelter, before they go out they are fully vaccinated, and are all spayed and neutered,” he said. “So there is a benefit to the city, the municipality, in that we basically re-process animals that come into us, and they go out in a lot better shape into the city.”

The city will look at all the third party grant requests it receives during its 2023 budget deliberations, which start later this month.

—

angela.brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW

by Angela Brown

Humane Society, Curling Club request funding in city’s 2023 budget

What's Trending