The Powell River Salmon Society is one of three non-profit organizations in British Columbia to receive crucial funding from FortisBC to will help them advance important projects in their communities. The organization is a recipient of a $15,000 Community Giving Award.
The Powell River Salmon Society promotes environmental protection and preservation of the Chinook salmon population. Each year, 10,000 volunteer hours, along with corporate and government partnerships, help support the release of 1.9 million salmon smolts (young salmon) back into regional waters along the south coast of British Columbia. Funding from the Community Giving Awards will be used to strengthen salmon enhancement efforts and modernize classroom education through their recently launched website, salmoneducation.org.
“Receiving funds from FortisBC ties into everything we do, from the enhancement of salmon to the educational programs which have grown exponentially during COVID,” said Shane Dobler, hatchery manager, Powell River Salmon Society. “It’s through donations like this that we can complete our goals, and FortisBC has stood behind us for a long time which has contributed to our long-term success.”
The Powell River Salmon Society was nominated by Rod Tysdal, vice president of Powell River Community Forest.
“The nominations we received this year showcased the diversity of grassroots organizations working hard across the province to respond to the unique needs of their communities,” said Doug Slater, vice-president of external and Indigenous relations, FortisBC. “These three recipients exemplify those efforts and we’re confident their projects will have a lasting, positive impact.”
Each year, FortisBC invites local government officials from across the province to nominate a charity or non-profit project in their community for these financial awards. Consideration is given to projects that promote safety; gas and electrical trades; energy literacy; skill development or leadership; environmental protection and preservation as well as projects that meet the unique needs of Indigenous groups, organizations or communities.
More information about the recipients and FortisBC’s community investment initiatives is available at fortisbc.com/communityinvestment.
