MLA Robin Campbell presented Jasper’s Community and Family Services with an $81,000 cheque in November, to address a need for more childcare spaces and purchase more furniture for daycare programs in Jasper.

The cheque is to be split in half, with 50 per cent going to the Out of School Care Program, and 50 per cent going to the Jasper Centre for Early Childhood Learning and Care. Each program will benefit from $40,500 each.

The cheque is part of the Alberta government’s initiative to make more childcare spaces available to families to address an urgent shortage in the province. The money is not only designed to open up more room for children, but to outfit childcare centres with the items they need to keep them running.

Kathleen Waxer, director of Community and Family Services, says that means more toys and furniture can be purchased for Jasper’s childcare providers. The child-sized chairs and tables commonly seen in daycare facilities are deceivingly expensive, as they have to be built to withstand the wear-and-tear of many children over the years.

“They cost actually an unbelievable amount of money,” Waxer said.

For the Out of School Care Program, the money will go to the location at Jasper Elementary School. 

Waxer said the money will be a great help to local families.

“It will benefit Jasper’s families because there will be more space,” she said. 

The furniture will also benefit the children, as it will be brand new. 

“It will be bright and beautiful because it will be nicely furnished,” Waxer said. 

The cheque was presented after Community and Family Services applied for the funding. Money was distributed throughout the province based on each space. Jasper’s family services branch was the last to tap into the grant. 

“It’s a very exciting time,” Waxer said. “The need for childcare has grown and grown.”

Last year the Out of School Care Program housed 30 children. Recent debate on whether to move the program to its own building has been ongoing, but Waxer said the new grant assures parents that there will be a program for a long time to come.

“It gives the message that there will be a service that is ongoing,” she said.