The Manitoba recipients include:

Shoal Lake Leisure Services, Shoal Lake: $22,000 for replacement of existing equipment and repairs to the existing facilities;

Pilot Mound Millennium Recreation Complex Inc., Pilot Mound: $10,000 for completion of the theatre/cultural area and/or the museum area;

Emerson Volunteer Fire and Rescue, Emerson: $7,500 for purchase of a new fire pumper apparatus;

Wawanesa Volunteer Fire Dept., Wawanesa: $7,000 for purchase of a box for the response truck;

Camp Wannakumbac, Rural Municipality of Park: $7,000 for purchase of a new electric furnace; Elkhorn Community Hall/Royal Purple, Elkhorn: $6,000 for renovation of the community hall;

Swan Lake Recreation Complex Inc., Swan Lake: $5,000 for purchase of new cement floors and boards in the arena.

Lake Francis Community Centre Inc., Lake Francis: $5,000 construction of a new kitchen in the hall;

Carman-Dufferin Recreation Commission, Carman: $5,000 for renovation of the arena;

St. Claude Fire Department, St. Claude: $5,000 for purchase of a new fire tanker;

Pembina Valley Humane Society, Morden, and within the Pembina Valley: $5,000 for construction of the new Humane Society building.

Eleven Manitoba communities will receive a total of $84,500 from the Farm Credit Corporation’s $1 million AgriSpirit Fund this year. Each year, the fund awards rural communities between $5,000 and $25,000 for community improvement projects, such as emergency services equipment, playgrounds, recreation centres and care homes. Nationally, 1,374 applications for AgriSpirit funding were received – 174 of these came from Manitoba – a clear indication that people in rural Canada are passionate about their communities and doing their part to ensure they continue to thrive, the FCC says in a release.

“People in rural communities work very hard to raise funds for much-needed facilities in their communities,” says Michael Hoffort, FCC vice-president, prairie operations. “At FCC, we care about the communities where our customers and employees live and work. The FCC AgriSpirit Fund helps us to support these projects and work with the individuals and groups responsible for leading them to strengthen their communities.”