Giving a helping hand for youth

For Dean Turnquist it is always about serving the youth of the community.

Turnquist, chair of The Helping Hand Fund, made that commitment loud and clear on Feb. 27 when he went to town hall to present cheques of $1,000 to the local skatepark project and to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Prairies to Peaks (BBBS).

He said the donation was given in part because both causes are part of the current Big Valley Jamboree Small Town Saturday Night 2017 contest, and that his organization wanted to help increase awareness for both groups. Innisfail was named a Top 10 finalist and is still in the running to win the contest, which is open to municipalities in Alberta with populations under 20,000 people. The winner will have a chance to host a concert featuring Canadian country music sensation Gord Bamford with proceeds going towards a local project or program. The second round of voting for the contest will begin on March 13.

"But also we feel it (donation) is a good time, with spring coming shortly. It works well for the exposure we are going to get for our road hockey tournament coming up at the end of April," he said, adding all the money raised from the annual event goes to The Helping Hand Fund, which then helps underprivileged kids become involved in local sports in the community.

Turnquist said raising awareness for the skatepark project, primarily supported financially through fundraising by the Innisfail Kinsmen Club and the Kinette Club of Innisfail, and the ongoing youth mentoring work by BBBS are community initiatives that are vitally important to him on a personal level.

"Absolutely. Certainly the mandate of The Helping Hand Fund is to support underprivileged kids and youth, and support was such a huge part of my life growing up. It is near and dear to my heart," said Turnquist. "I think that there isn't just one thing to do in our community and not everybody has the same income to be able to do one thing, and so by offering something like the skatepark, it gives another venue for kids to be active and to be doing something in town.

"And Big Brothers and Big Sisters is a great organization in town whose mandate is to ensure kids get the help they need and when they need it," said Turnquist.

Teresa Ainscough, rural mentoring coordinator for BBBS, said the donation will be a "real boost" for the agency.

"We rely on our community's donations to keep us running," she said. "We are serving more and more kids each and every year, and we expect to be serving more because of the recession and the economic times, people losing jobs and kids not knowing how to deal with it. We will be serving more children. Every dollar counts."

Meanwhile, the 22nd annual Spring Fever Road Hockey Tournament is scheduled for April 29 and 30. The adult portion of the tournament will be held April 29 along Main Street outside Boots & Barrels Sports Bar, while the kids will play next day at the Innisfail Arena. Following the presentation of the two $1,000 cheques, Turnquist spoke to council about his plans for the tournament, which included closing a portion of Main Street for the adult portion of the tourney. Council will formerly make a decision on the street closure request at a later date.