Something good comes from something bad

The Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service (NAPS) has brokered a deal with the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) that will see the liquor seized from bootleggers operating on the dry reserves in the Nishnawbe-Aski territory exchanged for money that will then be used to enhance the police service's annual baby formula and diaper drive.
"There is a lot of alcohol seized in the north due to band council bylaws," said Const. Jackie George, the community initiative coordinator for NAPs and the organizer of the formula and diaper drive. "Possessing alcohol in the north is prohibited, so we seize it and instead of dumping it, which is what we normally would do, we return the intact liquor for a refund. It is a positive spin on the alcohol that we seize."
The drive started in 2007, but this is the first year that the funds from confiscated liquor will be contributed.
Last year the drive was funded internally, advertised throughout the NAPS many offices and to a few Provincial Ontario Police officers. The amount raised was $930. This year, the contributions to the drive has changed considerably. NAPS received a cheque from the LCBO for $4,352.50.
The idea for the drive came from Chief of Police Paul Trivett, and was met with enthusiasm and determination by his officers.
"He asked me to get it going," said George. "He basically gave me the initiative and I just ran with it. What better way to benefit (the community) than to make sure the babies have some diapers and some formula if needed to help their parents bring their children up in a healthy lifestyle?"
NAPs is proud that they can contribute to the communities in this way.
"It is an original NAPS concept. We never had any kind of community program or charitable program that we could call our own," said George. "But when Chief Trivett approached me with the idea, I'm thinking 'Here is something good for our community that is often overlooked for things .' We got it going originally from our employee contributions and now, from the proceeds from the LCBO, it is going to grow. And it is going to be well-established. It is going to be something our employees can be proud of in terms of contributing to our communities and knowing that it is going to be a healthy contribution."
Last year NAPS was able to distribute to four First Nations communities, two from the northwest and two from the northeast.
"We distributed diapers to Bear Skin and Deer Lake First Nations. On the northeast side we distributed to Attawapiskat and Kashechewan First Nations. And this year we will pick several new communities," George said.