M.D. to invite Child Care Society to discuss funding

By Rob Vogt
The Municipal District of Willow Creek will
invite the Claresholm Child Care Society to appear as a delegation at council to discuss a funding
request to help finish their new playground.
At its Dec. 13 meeting, council reviewed a letter from the society explaining the daycare program has been in service since Feb. 29, 1988. They are the only licensed day care in the Town of Claresholm.
There are 95 children who are currently under care throughout the day care and before/after school programs. A total of 34 percent of those children live in the M.D., with some commuting up to 45 minutes to participate in the program.
Their ability to remain a thriving program is critical to the community and to provide the best for all children and families within their care is going to increase with the support of grants and partnerships such as their relationship with the M.D.
The Claresholm Child Care Society moved locations within Claresholm two years ago and the outdoor play space at the current location has not been fully completed.
The outdoor spaces were blank slates when they moved in, with dirt in all areas of play. In 2021 they had artificial turf installed to two of the play spaces, with portable playhouses, climbers and small toys for the children to play with inside of those spaces. In Spring of 2022, they completed their third outdoor space by adding in pea gravel and digging items for the children to use. However, there’s still more work to be completed.
The current outdoor play structure project was started Spring 2023 and includes an outdoor play area with a large wooden climbing structure including: a double slide, a climbing wall, climbing steps, a garden activity wall, and a hammock.
The playspace includes three springy toys brought over from the previous location to re-use, along with a larger play car added to the space.
This play structure provides families and children within the community with age appropriate play structures and will allow the children in their care to grow and develop all of their gross motor skills through running, climbing, jumping, sitting, and hopping.
The majority of this current project has been completed as of Fall 2023.
However, the final step in this project would be building a pergola on the west end of this space.
The pergola is critical to the play space as this will allow for protection from the wind, and shade and comfort for further activities and meals to occur with the children, while greatly extending the ability for children and families to play, develop and learn outside.
The child care society did not receive the grant they applied for but moved forward with the playground work using their own funds. These funds have come from a variety of fundraising efforts.
The society is now looking for support from its community partners, including the M.D. There are three key areas they are seeking financial support and any financial support is welcomed:
● $7,455, for excavating and groundwork on current project.
● $93,034.23 for a wooden playground structure with installation.
● $15,750 for pergola construction and installation.
Johanne Hannas, the M.D.’s director of finance, noted the M.D. has not provided any discretionary funding for the Claresholm Child Care Society in the past. However, the Claresholm community reserve has a balance of $18,034.67, which could be considered for funding.
Before making any decision council agreed to invite the Claresholm Child Care Society to come as a delegation to discuss their project.