Every dollar spent on repairs takes away from programs for kids, says Patricia Davison.
Davison is the executive director of the Children First Society in Inuvik, and for the past month or so the organization has had to deal with several instances of vandalism.
So far, staff and the 90 children that attend the centre have found three solar panels and three windows that have been broken.
“This is a safe place for (children) to play,” says Davison. “Realizing not everybody is respecting that, it’s a hard life lesson when you’re young. They can’t understand why people would break things that are important to them.”
Despite the recurrences, Davison doesn’t think the society is being specifically targeted.
“It’s something that’s happening throughout time by people just forgetting to respect.”
The organization has security cameras and Davison says they have an idea of the individuals that caused the damage, however they have not yet gone to the police. For now, Davison says they are “weighing our options.”
The society posted about the vandalism to social media urging the community to respect the space, and to keep it safe and clean for children.
Davison says the post will hopefully put a stop to the vandalism and “have people recognize the impact they’re having on the community.”
Davison says the organization is still tabulating the costs of repairs. Unfortunately, she said, that money is likely going to be taken out of the budget for special programming.
For now, Davison is calling on Inuvik’s sense of community.
“Let’s take care of it. Let’s respect what we have, so we can build on that.”
