Pictured above: Ronelda McCallum (left), Twin Lakes Community School Principal, receiving the Greener Tomorrow grant with Zena Fraser, Community School Coordinator, from Calvin Daigneault, Buffalo Narrows Northern Store Manager.

The Twin Lakes Community School garden in Buffalo Narrows, SK is getting a head start on its preparations for the upcoming school year, thanks to the support of a Greener Tomorrow grant awarded by its Northern store.

As a community located on the “Narrows” between Peter Pond Lake and Churchill Lake, the Twin Lakes Community School has over 300 students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 each school year, from Buffalo Narrows and other communities in the region. From its beginnings in 1960 as a four-classroom building that has gradually expanded over the years to its size today, the school is fitted with a gymnasium, science lab, home economics room, industrial arts shop, library, two computer labs, and as of 2019, its very own garden.

The Twin Lakes Community School Garden serves as a way to grow fresh produce while also educating its students about the basics of raising plants and agriculture. Northern is proud to support the continued operation of the garden by providing $2,149 to the school as part of the company’s Greener Tomorrow initiative.

"When our customers see the cheques on our wall and realize where the charges for the bags go, they are pleased to see that," says Calvin Daigneault, Buffalo Narrows Northern Store Manager. "It reminds everyone that we're in this together as a community."

The Greener Tomorrow program runs year-round, where stores in participating communities charge a small fee for the purchase of plastic bags. These fees are accumulated throughout the year and returned to the communities as a donation towards environmental programs chosen by the community’s leadership. All funds stay in the community in which they were raised.