Child care society gets major funding injection from B.C.
The Kimberley Daily Bulletin
April 11, 2007
By: Gerry Warner

After months of bad news, the East Kootenay Child Care Resource and Referral Society (EKCCRR) finally got some good news courtesy of MLA Bill Bennett.

Bennett announced Tuesday EKCCRR will be receiving $183,000 from Victoria for the 2007 - 2008 fiscal year, which will keep the program going for at least another year....

Bennett said the EKCCRR budget for the 2007 - 2008 fiscal year has been secured at $183,000, just short of its $186,458 budget in the 2006 - 2007 fiscal year. With secured funding in place, EKCCRR will be able to serve all the communities of the East Kootenay as it has in the past, he said.

EKCCRR Program Coordinator Rita Romeo said she was grateful for what Bennett had accomplished. "We're extremely fortunate to get this assistance and we really appreciate it. Unfortunately there's still going to be some cuts to the program."

Romeo said some of the program's outreach services will have to be cut to three times-a-year instead of monthly because the overall funding total isn't quite as large as it used to be. "But it's a great feeling to have secure funding again for another year."

Kim Levie, also a program coordinator at EKCCRR, said the long-time organization was overjoyed that it will be able to continue its programming for another year....

"We look forward to working with Mr. Bennett to bridge the gap between early learning, early literacy, early development and child care. Early childhood educators also look forward to further discussion to bring awareness of the importance of quality child care and the need for more quality child care spaces and educators within the East Kootenay area."...