News & Stories

February in Edmonton brought unseasonably warm weather. With the sun, came the thaw and with the thaw, came a quick realization that the home away from home for so many of our community’s kids, was no longer sound.

As the dripping, and sometimes streaming, began, our team scrambled. Rain barrels caught what they could, furniture was moved and sections of the facility were cordoned off. Our construction partners were called and then, we had to figure out to pay for the significant expense of replacing the roof on our largest facility.

The children and families, as well as our community at large, are proud of this community hub. At this site, the McCauley Club, we have over two hundred children and youth that attend programs on a regular basis. The site is home to all McCauley Club activities as well as hosting kids from the other nine Clubs around the city for things like intramurals, talent shows and other special group events. Additional organizations and our operations staff also reside in the building.

It’s incredibly important to us that our children feel safe and are proud to be part of this amazing place. We knew how critical it was to get the roof repaired quickly with as little disruption to supporting our kids as possible.

With some quick calls, some thoughtful grant applications and some very generous community organizations, we knew we were going to be okay. The Stollery Charitable Foundation, the Muttart Foundation, the Edmonton Community Foundation and St. Paul’s Foundation,  all recognized the importance of ensuring the kids of McCauley and all the other needs in the community were taken care of.

By then, the cold began to settle in again and who knew – there’s an optimal temperature to replace a roof? But with the freeze, the thawing – and the dripping – stopped. It took a bit for them to be able to get going again. Soon after though, construction began as Chandos Construction took to the work. The kids and staff all thought it was quite entertaining having these friendly, hard-working people banging around on the roof while we were all still able to do our thing.

As the warmth returned this spring, it was like it never happened. Our kids barely noticed a problem and there was not a single day where support wasn’t available or the Club closed. It continues to be the amazing place it always has been and the pride and belonging felt by our kids is a beautiful thing to be part of.

We sincerely thank the wonderful people at the Stollery Charitable Foundation, the Muttart Foundation, the Edmonton Community Foundation and St. Paul’s Foundation, for generously coming to our rescue in our time of need. Your continued support means the world.