At its Dec. 2 meeting, Courtenay council agreed to contribute $387.71 (equal to the facility rental fee) to Project Watershed to cover the cost of holding a fundraiser at the Native Sons Hall. Next May, the non-profit will host Painting by the Numbers to raise money for the Kus-kus-sum project, which aims to purchase and restore the former Field Sawmill site to its natural state.
•The Comox Bay Care Society needs help from the City of Courtenay to reach a goal of raising $76,000 for 2020. The money will help the society to continue operating four afternoons/evenings per week, and to offer a full complement of programs.
In a letter, the society expressed gratitude to the City for past contributions to the Care-a-van, which provides health and social services to those who struggle with homelessness.
“With your dedication and our 50-member multidisciplinary team of volunteer health care providers, we have served over 1,700 people in 10 years,” states Bob Kallio, board member of the Care-a-van fund-raising committee. “Within the last three years, there has been a 47 per cent increase in homeless people using our services.”
Council agreed to advise the society to apply for a grant-in-aid.
•Council will provide a letter to the Kumugwe Cultural Society to support its application for federal funding for Malkwalatlan’s: A Legacy Project Honoring MMIWG2S. The goal of the project is to design, carve and erect a 20-foot totem pole honoring the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirited which will be placed in the Comox Valley in 2020.
“All Canadians need to recognize and be aware of this injustice, and be educated on the threat that many of our Indigenous women face daily,” the society’s administrator Lee Everson states in a letter to council.
•Council supports Will Cole-Hamilton’s attendance at the Global Covenant of Mayors Canada Showcase Cities In-Person meeting, Jan. 8-10 in Montreal. The balance of his travel expenses not covered by the event will be funded by council’s travel expense budget.