In less than a week after presenting their proposal for a rainbow crosswalk to city council, the Williams Lake Pride Committee has raised the funds they need to make the project a success.
Thanks to donations from private individuals and businesses, the committee has raised approximately $4,500, almost twice as much as the estimated $2,250 they’ll need. They say the rest will go to maintaining the crosswalk
“We’ve got lots of businesses that are still contributing which is — holy smokes, wow — we can keep this maintained for quite some time and it’s just so great to see,” said Willa Julius, the president of the pride committee.
They’re set to meet on July 4 with the public works committee to start putting their plans for the crosswalk into action.
Read more: City council unanimously approves rainbow crosswalk
On Wednesday, she picked up donations from both FBB Chartered Professional Accountants, and New World Coffee & Tea House.
FBB donated $2,350 while New World topped up the fund with an extra $500.
Kane Fraser, a partner with FBB, said Brice O’Neill from New World contacted him about the fundraiser.
“One of my mottos in life is choose to be kind and you’ll always be right, so when this opportunity came up I was quite excited to be part of it,” he said.
“With FBB we like to support the community and we think this is a great cause and something that we can all be proud to take part in.”
Read more: Pride committee hopes to install rainbow crosswalk in Williams Lake
Sue Lachance, the owner of New World Coffee, said she is proud to support the committee.
“We have family members who participate in the pride movement so for us it was close to our hearts and we believe the community should get behind it and support it. It is a wonderful program and we have to thank Willa for taking the lead on this and getting going. We think it’s great,” she said.
“We just want to congratulate her on her improvement and we hope that it goes really well.”
At the time, Julius said she was trying not to cry.
“It just brings a lot of warmness to my heart to see our community and people like Sue and Brice and Kane and the whole community giving us this opportunity to create a safe space in Williams Lake.”
@Tspricker
tara.sprickerhoff@wltribune.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.