Participating in the upcoming municipal election isn鈥檛 the only way 麻豆社国产residents can cast a vote.
Telus is running a contest offering up $17,500 in donations to three 麻豆社国产charities, but the corporation needs input from the community to decide how the fund is divided.
The 麻豆社国产Helping Hands Society, the Howe Sound Women's Centre and the
麻豆社国产Environment Society are set to receive either a $10,000, $5,000 or聽 $2,500 donation. Which organization gets what amount will be based on the number of online votes accumulated by the end of the contest, Jan. 15.
鈥淭he money would help us fund underfunded programs,鈥� said Maureen Mackell, executive director of the Helping Hands Society, which offers food and shelter to 麻豆社国产homeless people.
The money could not come at a better time for the society, which was robbed last month. Thieves broke in to the office and got away with petty cash and gift cards totaling close to $1,200, Mackell says.
鈥淧eople are kind of up in arms about that鈥�. We shouldn鈥檛 get robbed,鈥� she said.
No matter the amount Helping Hands is awarded, the money will be put toward the Home Instead program. The program provides transitional beds for Squamish鈥檚 homeless and is currently running $25,000 in the red.
鈥淓very penny counts,鈥� said Mackell.
The money will be put to good use at the Howe Sound Women's Centre as well.
鈥淲here we have the shortfall is in children鈥檚 counseling services and our drop-in services and our youth education programs,鈥� said executive director Sheila Allen.
The children鈥檚 programs are short about $5,000 and there is no funding available at this point for the youth education programs, as the usual grants have not yet come through. The budget for the drop-in centre is usually augmented by revenue from the thrift store, but the store isn鈥檛 bringing in as much money as it has in the past.
Allen said getting a lump sum to put towards the areas of greatest need is particularly welcome because donations often come earmarked for specific programs.
鈥淚t is very nice to have an opportunity midway through the year to look at our budget and see where there are some shortfalls,鈥� she said.
Larry Murray, volunteer with the 麻豆社国产Environment Society said the board of the society would ultimately decide where the funds go, but he has three proposals for them to consider. He would like see the money go toward an environmentalist in residence at a local school, environmental research or a paid staff person to aid the society鈥檚 volunteers.
鈥淲hat we are trying to do in the Environmental Society is to teach people about the environment. If we don鈥檛 have a healthy environment we don鈥檛 have anything 鈥損eriod,鈥� said Murray.
Murray said he has no qualms about the society taking funds from a large corporation.
鈥淭elus is a very corporately responsible citizen on the environmental side,鈥� he said, adding Telus contributes to many projects environmentalists can get behind such as those with the World Wildlife Federation.
The three charities were chosen by Squamish-based Telus representatives based on information from members and leaders in the community.
鈥淭his is the first time we鈥檝e done a voting campaign like this in Squamish, and so far the response from the community has been overwhelmingly positive,鈥� said Liz Sauv茅, communications manager at Telus. 聽She said it is likely the contest will be run again in coming years.
The contest started Nov. 3 and is open to anyone in Squamish, not just Telus customers.
One vote per email address will be counted.
At the time of the Chief鈥檚 print deadline, Helping Hands and Howe Sound were tied at 44 per cent of the vote while the Environment Society had 12 per cent, with a total of about 400 votes cast.
To vote go to .听
