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Tough decisions for the Gwaii Trust

The Gwaii Trust board had some difficult decisions to make when it met Saturday (Feb. 25) to consider almost $900,000 worth of applications to the major contributions program, says executive director Errol Winter."We had 13 applications for a total of $895,000 and we were only able to fund $400,000," Mr. Winter said. "There were some tough decisions to be made. Really great projects came in from all around the islands."The largest chunk of funding, $190,619, goes to the Old Massett Village Council for a $1 million-plus project that will see eight longhouses built in the Hiellen area."It's very cool," Mr. Winter said. "The idea is to create a bit of a tourist facility."The next largest grant goes to Queen Charlotte, which will receive $150,000 towards construction of a new teen centre.The state of local fire departments also received attention from the Gwaii Trust directors, who awarded the Skidegate volunteer firefighters $30,000 for new equipment and training, and $29,381 to the Sandspit volunteer fire department for new equipment. Mr. Winter said the Sandspit grant will go towards replacing equipment that is 25 to 30 years old.Finally, the Skidegate Band Council will receive $61,000 to begin a fundraising program for the Haida Heritage Centre, and Queen Charlotte Secondary School will get $9,270 for "Project Gwaii".Meanwhile, the deadline for the new Food Security and Youth programs was Friday (Feb. 24) and Mr. Winter said there has been a great response.The new youth board will be meeting in mid-March to consider 16 applications for funding, and the Gwaii Trust board will meet at the end of the month to make decisions on 11 food security applications.