Chapman’s Ice Cream is donating half a million dollars to help raise funds for the new Beavercrest Community School.
The Bluewater District School Board hasn’t confirmed a new opening date for the school since a change in scope of the project, but the company says a $500,000 donation will go towards playground equipment, sports equipment, and audio-visual systems.
In a media release, Chapman’s says that the company is excited to have a new school opening in the community, as 25% of their workforce have children enrolled at Beavercrest.
The company’s Vice-President Ashley Chapman, says that although the donation isn’t enough to cover the expenses for everything, they felt it was a good place to start.
“We thought, ‘we’re going to help them; we’re going to invest in the community’ and you really can’t do that in a better, bigger way than investing in schooling for children.”
He’s hoping that the $500,000 from the company is enough to motivate community members and local governments to donate what they can as well.
The new school facility will have an increased student capacity from 317 to 374 students and will house a daycare and an EarlyON child and family centre.
Growth at the school is happening in contrast to what the province had forecasted seven years ago.
Back in 2017, Beavercrest was at risk of closing due to provincial budget cuts, and Chapman’s had offered to help cover some expenses to prevent such a move.
Had to province gone ahead with the closure, it would have meant school-aged children would have needed to be bussed 30-90 minutes away. That potential reality had led to a large portion of the company’s workforce to consider leaving the community in order to ensure their children were schooled close to home.
“The need [is] great for the school to be the best it can be, and we’ve certainly given it a bit of a push to get there.”
As an alumus of the school himself, Chapman is excited to see what the future has in store for the school and the community.
“We rely on the school, and I went to Beavercrest as a kid. That was my elementary school,” he says. “I hate to see the old building go, but at the same time we need to look into the future. We need more student capacity.”
At the time, the Bluewater District School Board and the Ontario Ministry of Education did not take up the offer. Chapman’s, however, is using this donation to back up its promise to support the school.
In their release, Chapman’s says that the donated money is being immediately transferred to the Beavercrest account, which allows teachers to place orders for equipment right away.
*Note: this story was updated from a previous version.