Aboriginal education supported by gambling profits

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As an attempt to give something back to the community and to promote education, Casino Regina recently awarded scholarships to eight students, four of whom were Aboriginal.

"It's just a part of our efforts to be a good corporate citizen," said Lynn Gidluck, director of communications and public relations for Casino Regina.

"The corporation felt it was important to be helping as much as we can in the communities."

Recognizing secondary education is imperative in today's competitive workforce, Gidluck said the decision to provide assistance to devoted students and communities wasn't a difficult one.

However, the decision to choose eight winners from 150 applicants wasn't as easy.

"It's amazing to know just how many talented young people there are. There wasn't just eight outstanding applicants, there were so many," said Gidluck.

She said it was gratifying to go through the applications and to see how much these people contribute to the community and continue to succeed in their studies.

"All of them are role models for the rest of the youth in the communities. Personally, I got a really good feeling knowing in five years, these are the people who will be involved in developing our communities."

The eight recipients were chosen on their balance between education, being involved in the community and work.

"It was an extremely difficult decision," said Gidluck.

The scholarships will be awarded annually. This year's recipients are: Desiree Kematch, Christa Gould, Anne Laliberte, Stacey Lynn Nault, Joseph Bantle, Scott Carson, Amy Jo Sandeski and Satpal Virdi.