After all the amazing articles that the St. Albert Gazette has published regarding Save Our Space Camp, I am disappointed with the April 23 editorial entitled Let's keep the space camp generosity rolling. After all the hard work that was put into this effort, I have two concerns with this article.
First, it recognizes only the St. Albert community and its generosity of spirit. In reality, the trip occurred as a result of the generosity of the communities back east in Ontario and Quebec who lowered or eliminated the cost of the activities and services, the online donations from across Canada including families in Calgary, Emo, Thunder Bay, and more, and the donations from families and corporations in Edmonton and surrounding areas.
You refer to improving the quality of life of those in our community, but it was not just St. Albert that made those donations. So which community would you like to recognize? The campaign received $10,000 from Edson, so do we give a portion of the donation to a charity in that community? A donation of $15,000 U.S. came from Virginia – do we give a portion to a charity in that community?
My second issue with the article is that you do not mention Breakfast for Learning. When I first stood up and started Save Our Space Camp, I stood alone with my family. We put in long days on this cause and put everything on hold.
One of the first questions that we were asked when we started soliciting donations was where would the monies be directed if we missed or exceeded our fundraising target. We chose Breakfast for Learning.
It is a charity that helps children across St. Albert, Edmonton and could be directed across Canada. It helps children across multiple schools from elementary up to high school. It is a good charity that helps the children and the community, yet you do not mention this charity which could be used to recognize the donations of individuals from across Canada, and choose to recognize charities that focus only on benefitting St. Albert families. To me that undervalues the donations of other communities.
Further, initially the funds were solicited with the names of two organizations – Save Our Space Camp and Breakfast for Learning. An individual cannot go door-to-door collecting bottles on behalf of the Cancer Society or the Stollery Children's Hospital without donating the money to the organization whose name was used. In order to mention the name of a registered charity while soliciting donations, an agreement must be made with that charity.
As founder of Save Our Space Camp, I entered into that verbal and written agreement with Breakfast for Learning and I believe strongly that funds in excess of the cost of the replacement trip should be directed to Breakfast for Learning.
Given the expected size of the donation, I have asked Breakfast for Learning to accept 50 per cent of the excess funds so that 50 per cent of the funds can be directed as the parents' group and St. Albert Public School Board deems fitting. At this time I do not know whether Breakfast for Learning will even be recognized when the funds are donated to different charities.
I love living in St. Albert. My husband and I have chosen to make this our home for the past 16 years. The community is amazing and we are proud to call St. Albert home. At the same time, Save Our Space Camp was made possible because of individuals across Canada and even the U.S. Please remember to recognize them and their contributions as well.
Shana Dahl, founder, Save Our Space Camp, St. Albert
