Seventeen community groups and First Nations in Saskatchewan have received funds through Farm Credit Canada’s AgriSpirit Fund.
This year, $1.5 million was available to communities across Canada with $254,500 distributed to the 17 projects across the province.
Carla Warnyca, the Manager of Community Investment with FCC, says the AgriSpirit Fund is designed to help rural communities. “Rural Canadians are incredibly passionate about enhancing their communities and the FCC AgriSpirit Fund is the way we support those efforts,” Warnyca says, “This fund is an example basically of our commitment to enrich communities and rural Canada where so many of our customers and employees live and work.”
Projects of this year’s recipients were varied. Below is a table from Farm Credit Canada showing each community group approved, how much funding they received, and how they used it:
| # | Organization | Amount | Project |
| 1 | Ahtahkakoop First Nation | $20,000 | Install solar panels at the community greenhouse and produce processing facility. |
| 2 | Buffalo Narrows Friendship Centre Inc. | $15,000 | Purchase a generator, air quality machine and canning supplies for food preservation at the food bank and emergency gathering center. |
| 3 | Canora Composite School | $22,500 | Purchase a grow education rack and agriculture education materials to provide food literacy programming and food for students. |
| 4 | Eastend Memorial Hall Co-operative | $12,000 | Install wall heating and cooling units in the community hall kitchen. |
| 5 | Empty Stocking Fund Inc. | $10,000 | Upgrade the bathroom and install a washer and dryer to better meet the demands of the food bank. |
| 6 | Estevan Public Youth Centre Inc. | $12,000 | Purchase a new fridge, stove and dishwasher, and construct a kitchen area. |
| 7 | Foam Lake & Area Foodbank Incorporated | $10,000 | Purchase freezers and a fridge for the food bank. |
| 8 | Kawacatoose First Nation | $25,000 | Purchase a freeze dryer, root cellar and weigh scale to assist with distribution of food to the community. |
| 9 | Maple Creek Community Church | $10,000 | Equip the building with a water purification system and natural gas generator to allow for operation as a disaster relief location for the community. |
| 10 | Meadow Lake Outreach Ministries Inc. | $10,000 | Purchase a freeze-drying machine to preserve surplus food, reducing waste at the food bank. |
| 11 | Ochapowace First Nation | $15,000 | Expand the community garden to include larger plots for family use and to trench and pipe in water from the water treatment plant for garden watering. |
| 12 | Pasqua First Nation No. 79 | $8,000 | Create a community garden with accessible garden beds for community members with disabilities and elders. |
| 13 | Piapot First Nation | $25,000 | Upgrade the community hall interior and entry doors. |
| 14 | Rosetown Central High School | $10,000 | Purchase a propagator and gardening supplies to grow produce to feed students. |
| 15 | Swift Current Salvation Army Food Bank | $10,000 | Replace the doors at the food bank and make all exterior doors wheelchair accessible. |
| 16 | Town of Hague | $15,000 | Replace three furnaces at the arena. |
| 17 | Whitecap Dakota Nation | $25,000 | Install solar panels at the community greenhouse. |
Warnyca says the focus shifts to next spring’s window of accepting applications. Any registered charities, First Nations, Metis or Inuit governments/communities, non-profit groups, and municipalities interested in apply can go to fccagrispiritfund.ca for information on how to apply, criteria, and to view past projects.
The FCC AgriSpirit Fund has supported 1,697 projects for a total investment of $22.5 million over the last 21 years.
