Diamond North Credit Union presented a cheque for $10,000 to the Nipawin Pool Building Committee during the April 11 Chase the Ace event (Facebook/Nipawin Chase the Ace).

By Aaron Schulze

Nipawin Pool Project

Diamond North Credit Union wins grant, forwards money to Nipawin pool project

Apr 13, 2019 | 3:08 PM

For the past three years, Nipawin Chase the Ace had been fundraising for the Pool at Central Park’s building renovations.

In the evening of Thursday, April 11, they received one of their biggest donations for the project.

Diamond North Credit Union presented the Nipawin Pool Building Committee a cheque for $10,000 during the latest Chase the Ace supper event.

Brenda Lehman, vice-president of corporate services for Diamond North Credit Union, told northeastNOW they won the grant through Concentra Bank.

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“For the last nine years, they have been nationally giving out $200,000 in a program they call ‘Empowering Your Community,’” Lehman said. “They invite their credit union partners nationally to submit one or two projects they’re involved in with the community that they feel aligns with cooperative spirit and that we’re involved with in some sort of way.”

Diamond North Credit Union’s choice for a $10,000 award or greater was the Nipawin Pool Building Committee, a group of volunteers raising funds to renovate the pool’s building and changing rooms to make it more accessible for everyone.

“They recognized we were getting a zero-entry swimming pools, but they didn’t have the funds to renovate the change rooms to accommodate special needs, families, and things like that,” she said.

The donation came as a surprise to the Nipawin Pool Building Committee’s Chairperson Maxine Cook.

“I know that Diamond North Credit Union applied for the same grant last year on behalf of our committee and we didn’t receive it,” Cook said. “This year we didn’t even know we were entered. It was a really big surprise for us and certainly appreciated.”

Cook said the committee had been fundraising through Chase the Ace events and earning interest off the savings.

What started out as a fundraising event evolved into a common social outing for Nipawin residents, which is what ended up making Lehman go with the Nipawin Pool Building Committee.

“It really established that connection in the community,” Lehman said. “As it grew, they had other organizations coming in to do the suppers, where they would earn the revenue by putting on the supper then they would in turn use it to fund their activities. It truly did have the cooperative spirit, so it is the one we submitted.”

Over three years, Cook said the committee had raised over $360,000 from the Chase the Ace events for the pool building. Although they are currently around $40,000 short of their goal, Cook said Nipawin council told them the town would put up the remaining funds that is required to complete the building.

“We’ve received many thanks from council and Mayor Harper regarding our fundraising efforts the last three years and they are very supportive of this project,” Cook said.

Cook expects renovations for the pool building to be completed by Victoria Day weekend.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow