This Christmas, be generous to your community

At the bottom of this page, you’ll find a long list of Nunavut organizations that use charitable donations to fund essential work within our communities.

As our cash-starved governments withdraw services from areas of life we once took for granted, these mostly voluntary organizations now play increasingly vital roles in the lives of our communities. Many of them do work that governments used to do, especially in social welfare, education and youth recreation. Without them, who would patch the gaping holes that government policy has torn into our social safety net in recent years?

One example of this that’s familiar to Iqaluit residents is the annual Christmas hamper drive run by the Rotary club (see p. 29 in this week’s newspaper.)

It’s time, then, for Nunavummiut to develop a better awareness of Nunavut’s charitable organizations and the range of work they perform.

That’s why Jack Anawak, Nunavut’s Minister of Community Government, declared Wednesday, Dec. 5 Volunteer Day in Nunavut. It’s a sign the government realizes unpaid volunteers are now producing services the government can’t provide anymore.

That’s something most of us already know — charitable organizations perform good works for people.

But charitable organizations do much more than that. They also provide people with productive things to do. In Nunavut, where the official unemployment rate stands at about 28 per cent, and where the real unemployment rate is even higher, this is vital work.

One glowing example of this is the Ilisaqsivik Society in Clyde River (see pp. 20-21 in this week’s newspaper).

Incredibly, this community-based charitable organization has become Clyde River’s largest single employer, providing full- and part-time jobs for 64 people last year. With its unemployment rate of 72 per cent, Clyde River has little to offer young people who wish to become part of the wage economy. Community-based voluntarism may be the only means by which communities such as Clyde River might become viable. In the not-too-distant future, it may be the only means by which some communities will avoid extinction.

That’s why Nunavut government officials are so eager to promote Ilisaqsivik’s work as a model for other communities. Its programs include suicide prevention, health programs for children and pregnant moms, addiction counselling, literacy and much, much more.

These are the very services that people all over Nunavut are calling on the territorial government to perform, only to be told that the territorial government doesn’t have the money or the people to offer them. Because of its fiscal limitations and built-in incapacities, the Nunavut government has no choice but to encourage a do-it-yourself approach to social welfare.

The underlying reasons for this lie far outside of Nunavut’s boundaries. The technological changes that have led to the development of a global economy since the 1980s have forced the federal government to take harsh measures. It has been forced to make the country more competitive within the brutal new world of globalized trade that has arisen over the past two decades.

That’s why the federal government has reduced taxes and government spending. That’s why Ottawa provided Nunavut with inadequate start-up infrastructure and an inadequate formula financing agreement. That’s why Ottawa reduced its annual health and social payments to territories and provinces, creating the health-care crisis that Nunavut shares with the rest of the country.

One of Nunavut’s great misfortunes is that it was conceived in the mid-1970s, a more innocent time than now. The creators of Nunavut never prepared themselves for the possibility that Nunavut might be underfunded, and that its territorial government would turn out to be incapable of providing for the basic needs of its people.

None of us in Nunavut have the power to turn back the tide of globalization. But we do have the power to learn how to live with its consequences. That includes building strong local communities capable of withstanding the negative effects of globalization, while learning how to take advantage of its many benefits.

One essential ingredient is voluntarism and charitable work. Our hope is that as Christmas approaches and your minds turn away from the affairs of the world toward thoughts of family and community, you’ll think about giving what you can to one of these worthy Nunavut organizations listed below.

The list was prepared by a group of Nunavummiut who work for the government of Nunavut, the Nunavut Employees’ Union, the Federation of Nunavut Teachers, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., and the Nunavut Social Development Council.

They all believe that Nunavummiut should know more about the charitable work that our friends and neighbours are doing in every Nunavut community. To help them, we agreed to publish this list.

You’ll notice that many of the organizations have a number listed alongside their contact information. That means they are able to give you receipts for any donations you make, which you can then submit with your income tax return to reduce the amount of income tax you’ll have to pay.

If you can, please make a donation to one of these organizations. In doing so, you’ll be creating a merrier Christmas for somebody, somewhere in Nunavut.

JB

Charitable Organizations in Nunavut

This Christmas, please consider making a donation to one of these worthy organizations:

Baffin Regional Aggvik Society
Trish Hughes-Wieczorek
P.O. Box 237
Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0
(867) 979-4566 (867) 979-0328
Reg. # 121555148RR0001

Anglican Church Expansion Committee
Emily Beardsall
P.O. Box 14
Coral Harbour, NU X0C 0C0
(867) 925-8577 Phone (867) 975-8440 Fax

Arctic Bay Full Gospel Church
P.O. Box 24
Arctic Bay, NU X0A 0A0
Reg. # 888896214RR0001

Ilisaqsivik Society
Beverly Idlout
P.O. Box 150
Clyde River, NU X0A 0E0
(867) 924-6565 Phone (867) 924-6570 Fax
Reg. # 886642693RR0001

Rankin Inlet District Education Authority
Brian Zawadski & Joyce Ayaruak
Bag 002, MUI Building
Rankin Inlet, NU X0C 0G0
(867) 645-2642 Phone (867) 645-2209 Fax
Reg. # 888650744RR0001

Inullariit Society
Thoretta Iyerak
P.O. Box 210
Igloolik, NU X0A 0L0
(867) 934-8836 Phone (867) 934-8792 Fax
Reg. # 891253783RR0001

Rebecca Panipak Idlout Library
Marion Ferguson
P.O. Box 580
Pond Inlet, NU X0A 0S0
Reg. # 890851660RR0001

Nunavut Literacy Council
Kim Crockett
P.O. Box 1049
Cambridge Bay, NU X0B 0C0
kimcr@polarnet.ca
Reg. # 890842123RR001

Glad Tidings Arctic Missions Society
Rev. Katy Gordon
P.O. Box 206
Rankin Inlet, NU X0C 0G0
(604) 897-2858 (867) 645-2018
arcticmissions@attglobal.net
Reg. # 892098963RR0001

Nunavut Wildlife Research Trust
Jim Noble Sr.
P.O. Box 1379
Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0
(867) 979-6962 Phone (867) 979-7785 Fax
jnoble@nwmb.com
Reg. # 892518762RR0001

The Keewatin Regional Science Fair Committee
Bill Cooper
P.O. Box 30
Baker Lake, NU X0C 0A0
(867) 793-2842 Phone (867) 793-2029 Fax
Reg. # 891257545RR0001

Kitikmeot Heritage Society
Kim Crockett
P.O. Box 1062
Cambridge Bay, NU X0B 0C0
(867) 983-3009
Reg. #897090536RR0001

Aakuluk Daycare
Mary Ellen Milley
P.O. Box 1405
Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0
(867) 979-7766 Phone (867) 979-0945 Fax
Reg. # 898437678RR0001

Nunavut Beneficiaries Scholarships
Lisa Komaksiutiksak
P.O. Box 469
Rankin Inlet, NU X0C 0G0
(867) 645-2888 Phone (867) 645-3878 Fax
Reg. # 897544391RR0001

Kugluktuk Pentecostal Church
Pastor Nathan MacKay
P.O. Box 394
Kugluktuk, NU X0B 0E0
(867) 982-4161 Phone (867) 982-4161 Fax
Reg. # 893674721RR0001

All Saints Anglican Parish
Frank May
P.O. Box 25
Arctic Bay, NU X0A 0A0
Reg. # 888896214RR0001

St. George’s Church
General Delivery
Cambridge Bay, NU X0B 0C0
Reg. # 890842123RR0001

Church of the Holy Comforter
P.O. Box 128
Rankin Inlet, NU X0C 0G0
(867) 645-2657 Phone (867) 645-3240 Fax
Reg. # 130402019RR0001

First Steps Daycare Centre
Alison Cormier
P.O. Box 1749
Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0
(867) 979-0505 Phone (867) 979-3478 Fax
Reg. # 136773942RR0001

The Kataujaq Society
Evelyn Thordarson
P.O. Box 344
Rankin Inlet, NU X0C 0G0
(867) 645-2214 Phone (867) 645-2442 Fax
Reg. # 1003482-01

Baker Lake Hospice Society
Simon Martee OR Elsa Cheeseman
P.O. Box 8
Baker Lake, NU X0C 0A0
(867) 793-2857 Phone (867) 793-2006 Fax
Reg. # 0621714-11-25

Pulaarvik Kablu Friendship Centre
P.O. Box 429
Rankin Inlet, NU X0C 0G0
(867) 645-2600 Phone (867) 645-2538 Fax
Reg. # 107954307RR0001

The Iqaluit Music Society — Iqalunninijjausijarnimut Katujjiji
President
P.O. Box 651
Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0
Reg. # 885255646RR0001

St. Francis Anglican Church
Lena Napayok
P.O. Box 119
Arviat, NU X0C 0E0
Reg. # 871673174RR0001

John Howard Society of Nunavut
Executive Director
P.O. Box 2175
Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0
Reg. # 883796922RR0001

Nunavut Kamatsiaqtut Help Line
Sheila Levy, President
P.O. Box 419
Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0
Reg. # 868077546RR0001

Kitikmeot Regional Science Activities Committee
(Kitikmeot Divisional Council)
Chairperson
P.O. Box 287
Kugtuktuk, NU X0B 0E0
Reg. # 872951363RR001

University of Victoria — Akitsiraq Law School Program
Kelly Gallagher-Mackey
P.O. Box 2292
Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0
Reg. # 10816 2470 RR0001

Illitiit
Lee Smith
P.O. Box 909
Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0
Phone (867) 979-0053 Fax (867) 979-0061
Registered Charity

Iqaluit Recycling Society
Francis Gertsch
P.O. Box 4131
Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0
(867) 975-1431
iqaluitrecycles@nunanet.org

Royal Purple of Canada
Susan Spring
P.O. Box 237
Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0
(867) 979-0767 Phone (867) 979-4349 fax
susan.iha@nv.sympatico.ca

Kugluktuk Family Literacy Project
Naomi Tremblay
Jimmy Hikok Ilihakvik
Kugluktuk, NU X0B 0E0
(867) 982-5001 Phone (867) 982-5209 Fax
naomitremblay@yahoo.com

Kugluktuk Paddling Association
Alex Stuit
P.O. Box 29
Kugluktuk, NU X0B 0E0
(867) 982-4225 Work Phone
(867) 982-3235 Home Phone
(Or Fax Naomi Tremblay, Treasurer
at (867) 982-5209)

Rotary Club of Iqaluit
P.O. Box 535
Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0
c/o Susan Spring
(867) 979-0767 Home (867) 979-4349 Fax

Nekaniit Parnaivit — Nunavut Food Bank
Edward Melnychuk, Secretary
P.O. Box 234
Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0
(867) 979-7918 Phone
melnych@nunanet.com

Rob Strutz
Nasivvik High School
Student Exchange Society
P.O. Box 342
Pond Inlet, NU
XOA OSO
(867)-899-8959 Tel (867)-899-8875 Fax