A former Tuktoyaktuk resident has donated two kayaks to the Jason Jacobson Youth Centre and is challenging anyone who has profited from the coastline erosion mitigation project to match or beat his donation.
Francis Gruben said he wants to help get a kayaking club established in his hometown and decided to purchase and ship two kayaks up to the community to get the ball rolling.
"I talked to Tuktoyaktuk Community Corporation and they had three kayaks and now they'll have five," he said. "It would be nice to see the youth centre have 10-12 and learn about water safety.
"I started working in 2023 for Ed Gruben Transport and made some money. I wanted to give back to my community. Growing up we had nothing," he said.
When he was a kid, there was no local youth centre. Instead, they would play at the Alcoholics Anonymous Centre, where the late Bob Lundrigan would let them in to play games.
Now that the community has a dedicated youth centre, Gruben, who lives in Leduc, Alta., said he wants to help keep youth in the community busy.
Ed Gruben Transport is shipping the kayaks to Tuktoyaktuk free of charge.
He added that he wants to see more companies operating in the Beaufort Delta invest more in the area, which is what prompted him to devise the challenge.
"Companies up there have been making a lot of money these past couple years — in the millions," he said. "They should donate to all youth centres in the Beaufort Delta region because the youth are going to someday possibly work for these companies. A lot of families don’t have money to get things like these kayaks, I know how it is — not much to do, no cellphones, just out playing and getting into mischief.
"Hopefully they can have 10-12 so the youth can all go kayaking together with supervision."
