MOOSE JAW — After what should have been , the Southwest Day Care and Early Learning Centre (SWDC) has now returned to business as usual starting Jan. 9.
“So, (Director) Lucille (Gilliland) and I, and our board, have been working for over 20 months on our renovation, and we had a fundraising campaign called ‘Raising the Roof.’ We were looking for any support we could get…,” Taylor Brake, assistant director of the SWDC, said recently.
“The Co-op reached out to us and we were extremely ecstatic to get that news. They’re huge community supporters, and their support for our centre helped us greatly.”
Thanks to a recent $10,000 donation, the Moose Jaw Co-op is now recognized as one of the daycare’s platinum sponsors.
“They made up a large chunk of what we managed to fundraise,” she noted. “It definitely helped, especially because they got us right at the end of our project when everything was starting to come in and (the project’s final stages had become) a huge task (for us to) go through.”
With the campaign now concluded, SWDC will return to its usual fundraising projects to cover summer programming and other day-to-day expenses.
The Moose Jaw Co-op’s Community Fund is a dedicated funding program for larger community projects requiring $5,000 or more. It is separate from regular donations and is funded by 1.5 per cent of the Co-op’s annual profits, explained Michaela Turner, the Co-op’s community and employee engagement manager.
“(SWDC) had applied for our Community Fund, and we just really felt that the work they do and the challenges they were presented was such a huge project for them to undertake,” Turner said. “So, our donation was just a small way to help them out and contribute what we could….”
Earlier, both Turner and Geoff Anderson, CEO of the Moose Jaw Co-op, were invited to tour the facility only days after reopening.
“You wouldn’t even know that they had just moved everything out to another space, and then brought it all back... It was all perfectly set up in such a short amount of time,” Turner observed.
Another observation Turner shared was the inclusive atmosphere. “(SWDC) can take all kinds of different special needs (children)… and (their staff) are trained to not only take care of them, but they do an excellent job in caring for those challenges.
“When you’re touring, everybody is totally mixed in and inclusive. You don’t even see who has the extra challenges. It’s really quite special,” she noted.
Turner said the donation was a natural choice for the Moose Jaw Co-op, a company that puts people and the community first.
“It’s no surprise that they’re back in there, and everything is just beautiful thanks to (Gilliland’s) leadership,” Turner added. “She is a very strong leader, and you can see the respect that her team (and the community) has for her.”
Brake expressed a similar sentiment, mentioning Gilliland, the Co-op, and all other donors.
“We’re glad to be back home and we can’t thank the Co-op (and our other donors) enough for what they did for us.”
The application period for the Moose Jaw Co-op’s Community Fund program will remain open until Wednesday, April 30. To apply, visit .
To learn more email [email protected] or visit ‘’ on Facebook. Note that the day care can now be reached at 306-693-6688 instead of the temporary cell phone number posted during renovations.
Southwest Day Care and Early Learning Centre is located at 504 Fourth Avenue Southwest.
