The Rotary Club of Yellowknife has gone above and beyond when it comes to beleaguered Fort Good Hope.
The organization, which initially budgeted $4,500 in donation spending for the Sahtu community hit hard by a COVID-19 outbreak, ended up exceeding estimated range with $7,548 overall.
Celestino Oh, president of the 37-member rotary club, assured Yellowknifer that the reserve in place is enough to “absorb the excess over budget.”
“We are pleased to be able to provide the support to the community,” he said. “We knew that our shipping cost estimate was going to be different from actual shipping costs; the budget was based on best guess as to what we would end up shipping.”
Fort Good Hope community leadership was “very pleased to accept the donations on behalf of the community,” said Oh.
“The biggest benefit was giving the community members and leadership our support during their difficult times; them knowing that people in the NWT/Canada were aware of the hardships they were going through and thinking of them was a boost to their confidence that they would be able to endure,” he said.
The rotary club’s donations have already been distributed among residents in need.
“We will continue to stay in touch with the community,” said Oh. “However, we don’t anticipate any more shipments. We also are staying up-to-date on the COVID situation in the territory and should we identify a need for donations to other communities, we will go back to the rotary membership to seek approval for more spending.”