Kent Flavel (centre), the director of the Humboldt Strong Community Foundation, presented the $100,000 cheque to the City of Melfort back in March. (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff)

By Mat Barrett

Humboldt Strong Donation

City of Melfort decides allocation of Humboldt Strong donation

Jun 11, 2019 | 3:53 PM

The City of Melfort has officially decided what it is going to do with the $100,000 donation they received from the Humboldt Strong Community Foundation.

At its regular council meeting on Monday, June 10, the city announced the money will go toward three different areas to widely benefit the community and honour those that were on the bus on April 6, 2018.

Twenty-five thousand dollars will go toward a ‘Fun Zone’ and permanent recognition at the Northern Lights Palace, another $25,000 will help purchase a new video laryngoscope for the Melfort Hospital, and the remaining $50,000 will go toward the Melfort heliport project at the hospital.

Councillor April Phillips is the chair of the community services committee in Melfort and said the wide range of projects really covered every base it wanted to address.

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“That was what we came up with,” Phillips told northeastNOW. “And the committee felt that it was a good, broad coverage of what that night really represented and what we wanted to show.”

Phillips said the brainstorming sessions to determine the fundings location was difficult.

“It’s a very sensitive subject, and it’s hard,” she said. “We just felt that with this coverage of equipment, and STARS, and something permanent for hockey and for children, that it was just the best fit.”

‘Fun Zone’ at Northern Lights Palace

The ‘Fun Zone’ at the Northern Lights Palace arena in Melfort that will include a mini-stick rink and will be somewhat similar to what the Logan Schatz Memorial Arena has with ‘Schatzy’s Corner.’ The mini-stick rink, which will include seating as well, will be located at the old Corral site underneath the stands, opposite to the Zamboni in the arena.

Schatzy Corner is in the Allan rink, now named the Logan Schatz Memorial Arena and will be used as somewhat of a model for Melfort’s mini-stick rink. (Angie Rolheiser/northeastNOW Staff)

Currently, that spot in the arena is partially a skating lounge. Phillips said the decision to add to the Palace was an immediate thought.

“The biggest thing was leaving a legacy of some sort, and the Palace immediately fit into that,” Phillips said. “We felt that something towards hockey, towards youth, and a legacy that we could always know that’s from the Broncos.”

The site of the mini-stick rink in Melfort is on the east side of the rink, on the same end as where the visiting team would warm up at a Melfort Mustangs game. (Mat Barrett/northeastNOW Staff)

“We didn’t want to replace something, we wanted something new,” she said. “We felt that replacing something that we already had didn’t leave the legacy that we felt it deserved.”

Phillips said they hope the mini-stick rink is set up by the beginning of the coming hockey season.

Video laryngoscope at the Melfort Hospital

A Video Laryngoscope is a crucial lifesaving tool to assist with intubation for trauma and surgery. Essentially, what the equipment does is allow doctors and medical personnel to see down the larynx by inserting this equipment into the mouth of the patient and get a clear view of the throat.

“It was brought ot our attention that the hospital was really in need of replacing the laryngoscope,” Phillips said. It “is absolutely a necessity to intubate somebody if they are coming in with trauma and to get them to that helicopter or to that ambulance.”

The $25,000 will cover the complete purchase of the equipment.

Heliport at the Melfort Hospital

The remaining half of the donation will go toward funding a heliport for STARS Air Ambulance at the Melfort Hospital. The money will not completely cover the project, but Phillips said it was worth it.

“We all remember hearing those helicopters that night even before we knew what was going on,” she said.

A committee that is responsible for the project has not made an official announcement yet on the fundraising for the project and the total cost of it is unknown.

Giving thanks

Phillips said she wanted to thank the Humboldt Strong Community Foundation for the donation.

“It was not expected at all,” she said. “We really appreciate it, and we hope that we are putting it towards things that they feel will enhance our community and help, and they will always be remembered.”

Mayor Rick Lang said the donation really benefits everyone in Melfort in a different way.

“We felt that to impact the community to a maximum benefit, we went to the three projects, all worthwhile,” Lang told northeastNOW. “All somewhat linked to the community of Humboldt, the Humboldt Broncos, and the situation.”

Multiple other communities in the area received donations from the Humboldt Strong Community Foundation as well.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6