Pictured above is Jason Evoy, Northern Fort Simpson Store Manager, presenting the cheque to Roslyn Firth, Wellness Coordinator of Liidlii Kue First Nation.

The Lights On program in Liidlii Kue First Nation, Fort Simpson, NT, received a funding boost this year, thanks to The North West Company’s Healthy Horizons Foundation.

Lights On aims to provide adolescents in the area a safe and fun place to spend their time during the winter months while keeping them physically active. The program runs Friday and Saturday nights at a local school and this year the program will include a new snowboarding program. The Healthy Horizons Foundation granted $20,000 to the program in December that will fund this new initiative.

Thanks to the grant, youth will have a reason to be motivated and train for the future: “The Arctic Winter Games are held in the North every 2 years and snowboarding is one of the events.  We feel that our program will give youth the incentive to strive to become members of the snowboard team,” says Roslyn Firth, Wellness Coordinator of Liidlii Kue First Nation. “We are bringing coaches from the First Nations snowboard team up to Fort Simpson for a weekend learn-to-snowboard clinic and are able to supply participants with snowboarding equipment,” she added.

The Foundation is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of youth in remote communities through financial support, such as their grant program.