Grande Prairie City Council approved a last-minute funding request from the organizers of Mighty Peace Day.
$18,000 from the Strategic Initiative Fund was added to $2,000 previously provided under administration discretion.
“This is a fund council has available for one time events or emergent needs. There is a small amount available for use throughout the course of this term, and obviously, a majority of council decided this was a high enough priority use of that funding,” says Mayor Bill Given.
The event, which takes after the “We Day” celebrations, has been taking place in Grande Prairie since 2013. Given says he appreciates the challenges they faced getting to the table in time and says he appreciates the value of the event for the community at large.
“This is a community group that has a long track record in Grande Prairie hosting a number of wildly successful events. This year they experienced significant turnover in their organization which meant new folks taking the reins may not have been aware of the funding request deadlines.”
In 2017, Mighty Peace Day attracted well over 3,000 students to the city to take part in the one-day event. The event is run at no cost to students, teachers or volunteers.
The fourth “Mighty Peace Day” will take place May 7th, 2019 at Revolution Place.