Legions across Saskatchewan receive grants for building repairs

By Nick Nielsen

Branches of the Royal Canadian Legion around Saskatchewan are going to be getting some facelifts over the course of the next few months thanks to the Saskatchewan Veteran Service Club Support Program. Through the program, the Saskatchewan government is sending out 81 different grants of up to $30,000 to legions around the province.

The Prince Albert Legion Branch No. 2 applied and received the full $30,000, which is going to be used on a major repair to their roof. According to legion president Rick Hodgson, the grant money comes at the perfect time for the legion to get the roof taken care of before the winter months.

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“We’ve had some major leaks in it in the last few years and we’ve been just patching and patching and they’re just not getting any better,” he said. “So we applied for that grant and some other ones to try and help us out. It’s an expensive thing, and this will really help us out to get that sealed up before winter and stop the leaking, and then it’ll do some repairs on the inside.”

While legions around the province can fundraise, the main way the branches raise money for repairs is through grants issued by the government and other organizations. Luckily for the Prince Albert Legion, their volunteer base is large and able to help in whatever fundraising activities they put together.

“To raise money and do events, you have to have help and volunteers, and they’re hard to come by,” Hodgson said. “We do the best we can to do things. Actually, we’re not doing bad. We have a pretty good volunteer group at our legion, and we get involved with stuff and raise money and it’s been going pretty good.”

In La Ronge, Branch No. 371 applied for the grant, but have not yet learned if the bid was successful. Shaune Lapworth, with the La Ronge Legion, said their building is older and needs repairs in many areas.

“If we did get the money, that particular proposal was for some deck work, because our deck is falling apart, and some handicap accessibility in the front of the building. Being a really old building, it’s not handicap accessible. It’s an old building and it needs some maintenance, and construction costs are expensive,” Lapworth explained.

The Meadow Lake Legion applied for and received the full $30,000. The money is mainly going to spent on replacing the flooring in their building, as well as renovations to their bathrooms and their fire suppression system. A spokesperson for the Meadow Lake Legion No. 76 said that there is no way they would be able to complete the renovations without the grant offered by the province.

The Battleford Legion No. 9 is also one of the recipients of the grants, but didn’t receive the entire $30,000. The North Battleford Legion No. 70 was unavailable to comment on whether they had received any of the grants issued.