A new charitable endeavour is committed to help ensure that children and youth are able to participate in sports in Swift Current.
Kiwanis Active Kids began operating in January of 2025 and has already been able to help over 60 kids participate in a variety of sports this year.
“Our goal is just to get kids back into sports. With the economy it’s tough right now for a lot of families. Coming from our own experience, sports aren’t getting cheaper, they’re getting more expensive. So we wanted to create an initiative to keep our kids active in sport,” explained board member Chad MacLeod. “We decided to start our own Kiwanis Active Sports that would just be a little better marketed towards our needs in our community. The guidelines are a little bit more user friendly and we’ll try and get as many kids back to sports as we can.”
Through the program, children and youth are eligible to receive up to $400 of financial support per child per calendar year.
“It can be anywhere up to $400 and you can use it in chunks. So let’s say you wanted to use it for swimming lessons and gymnastics, it doesn’t have to be just one sport. It can also be used for equipment. Southwest Sports Excellence in Swift Current has partnered with us to help get kids equipment for each of their sports. They’ve been a great partner with us,” said MacLeod.
To apply for Kiwanis Active Kids visit sckiwanis.ca/activekids.
“It’s for sports within Swift Current. That means if you’re from Waldeck, but your sport is within Swift Current you’re able to apply for our grant. As long as the sport is held within our borders of Swift Current we’re happy to help families out that are in need.”
MacLeod hopes to see the program utilized more in the coming months.
“We’re coming up on a year in January and it’s been a couple years in the making to get this all going. We’ve had about 60 kids already go through the program. We’ll probably see an uptick here because of the fall sports starting.”
The program is also actively fundraising, including the ‘Starting Five’ initiative.
“Starting Five is essentially a $2,000 donation towards Kiwanis Active Kids and it gets five kids active in sports within our community,” explained MacLeod. “It’s an option for businesses and individuals to commit dollars to our program that will go right towards the children of our community.”
Businesses or individuals are able to donate any amount to the program with information available on the website.
MacLeod is one of the early donors to the Starting Five program.
“For me as one of the individuals who kick-started this Kiwanis Active Kids and getting it going in Swift Current, there’s part of the work getting it going, getting it active each week by going through applications. But the other part is monetary and I wanted to be able to support this initiative that is pretty close to me and make sure I’m putting my money where my mouth is and donating it there.”
MacLeod grew up playing sports in Swift Current and feels it is important to help kids have that same experience.
“I just know how important sports can be for kids for someone who grew up in Swift Current and was involved in sports, not only to make friends and stay active and healthy, but it’s such a piece for mental health. I think that’s what really inspires me is to help kids and families with the mental health aspect of what sport can do for you by getting active and whatnot.”
