The Jasper Community Team Society has boosted its capacity to assist local residents.

The trusted community organization, which has received more than $2.2 million in donations to support Jasper’s long-term recovery, is working with a partner organization in the Bow Valley to help support its operations. 

The Banff Canmore Community Foundation will help develop funding processes and agreements, and will assist with the distribution of donated funds to aid the wildfire recovery in Jasper, the JCTS announced last month.

“With significant experience and resources, the Banff Canmore Foundation is a fantastic partner we can rely on in support of Jasper’s recovery,” said JCTS co-chair Brooklyn Rushton. 

At the same time, the JCTS has recruited new leadership in Jasperite Tristan Tomkins, who will serve as the non-profit’s new executive director.

Tomkins comes directly from the hospitality sector, having most recently worked as the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge’s director of housing and lifestyle. Tomkins said he is excited to step into the role, noting that the responsibility of ensuring the equitable and transparent distribution of donated money to those in need has been a heavy burden for the JCTS’s board of directors to bear.

“The job they were doing has been incredibly honourable, but that is a lot for volunteers,” Tomkins said. 

With a new ED, and recent resourcing to bolster the society’s bookkeeping and communications capacity, the JCTS can focus on serving residents through community partnerships such as Community Outreach Services (COS).

Moreover, part of the evolution of the JCTS will be the launching of a community grant program and building out community peer support initiatives — something Tomkins has seen the direct benefit of first hand, through his work as the brigade chairperson for the Jasper Volunteer Fire Department.

“I want to make sure people who are helping others are themselves supported,” Tomkins said.

Thanks to the donations which have poured in from across the country since last July—including a $5.5 million pledge from tourism leaders earlier this year—the JCTS will have, over the long term, the ability to build out that community capacity, Tomkins said.

And with support from the Banff Canmore Community Foundation, the JCTS’s decisions on where and how those donations are eventually used will be made in alignment with the donors’ requests (to the extent that the organization’s mandate allows).

Either way, Tomkins and his board co-chairs are excited to be building a community legacy.

“Jasper has the eye of the world right now,” Tomkins said. “We can be an example to other communities.” 

The Jasper Community Team Society is recruiting board members! The JCTS’s annual general meeting is happening on May 21 at 6 p.m. To work with the trusted community organization, contact tristan@thejcts.ca.

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com