The town of Salisbury, N.B., is looking to help residents continue being active through a new financial assistance program that helps parents pay for costs associated with activity programs for kids like sports teams and dance lessons.
“Being the most active community in Canada, we owe it to our residents to make recreation as accessible as possible,” Salisbury recreation director Massimo Caracristi said on Wednesday.
The town won recognition as New Brunswick’s most active community in 2022.
Last year, they beat out the likes of Toronto to win the national title after a month-long challenge by Participaction, a national non-profit organization that promotes physical fitness.
Caracristi said the town has $25,000 set aside for their Financial Assistance for Recreation (FAR) fund for this year.
Parents of children between the ages of 5 to 18 can apply for the funding to receive a maximum of $300 per child, or $500 for households with multiple children.
Parents can apply in May for summer activities, in September for fall activities, and January for winter activities.
They can only receive the funding once a year.
“We will prioritize low-income (households) but we still want to approve applications for anybody that’s looking to apply,” he said, noting funding for recreation programs based in Salisbury will also receive priority.
Most of the money has been donated by sponsors, with a small percentage coming out of the town’s budget.
Caracristi said some sponsors have already made a multi-year commitment to the pilot program.
“I think it’s going to continue,” he said.
“It’s more just understanding how much do we allocate to every application cycle. I’m assuming winter’s going to be more expensive because of hockey but summer could be more expensive because of summer camps and everything going on.”
Mayor Rob Campbell said he’s gotten positive feedback from residents about the funding.
“Times are tough right now,” he said. “We love to help our friends and family in our community so it’s so important.”
The town is gunning to keep their national title during the upcoming Participaction challenge in June, and recently received $100,000 as part of their prize for winning the national title in 2023.
Campbell said the money will be used to extend the trail system in Highland Park.