Darrell Vikse, long time Yellowknife Community Foundation volunteer was recognized for his service at today’s Community Showcase held at Multiplex. Darrell served as President of the Foundation and as a board member for several terms. In recent years he has helped with our highly successful Valentine’s Gala event. The Yellowknife Community Foundation would like to thank Darrell for his on-going commitment to making Yellowknife a better community.
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2026 Student Award Ceremony
On July 21st, 2026, the Yellowknife Community Foundation held its annual student award ceremony at Somba K’e Civic Plaza to celebrate the year’s cohort of scholarship recipients.
It was truly beautiful to see the community gather in support of its students, accompanied by sunshine, great music, and delicious food from the farmers’ market. We can’t wait for next year.
We would like to thank our fund advisors and community partners for their support:
- Amanda Mallon
- Robert and Anna Tumchewics
- Doreen Cleary
- Stephen Dunbar, Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories
- Terence Courtoreille, Housing NWT
- Shawna Lampi-Legaree, Sean Legaree, and Stephen Legaree
- TJ Ebbeling
- Robert Charpentier
- Matthew Jodoin, Parsons
- Northwyne Music
- Back Bay Productions
2026 Grantees
In 2026, the Yellowknife Community Foundation disbursed over $250,000 in grants as follows:
Impact Story - Yeah for Yoga...
The Yellowknife Small Grants Program offers micro-grants of up to $1,000 for individual residents of Yellowknife, Ndilǫ, and Dettah to build community, and help improve it. The first ever batch of grants was awarded in Fall 2025 to eight community members, including Lani Cooke for her project, Yeah for Yoga.
Since June 2025, Lani has been teaching a one hour yoga class twice a week in the brand new Avens Pavilion studio. She used the grant to enhance the Avens yoga experience with upgraded exercise chairs, blocks, mats, blankets, and a storage cabinet.
A number of happy outcomes followed from Lani’s investment:
- More elders were able to attend, including 4-6 in Chair Yoga and another 4-6 in Mat Yoga.
- Classes expanded to four a week.
- Students experienced improved strength and balance.
- Lani developed new skills as an instructor.
- Seniors across multiple Avens residences were brought closer together.
“I have fun teaching my students and they have fun with the various postures, mudras, and chants.” – Lani Cooke
Yellowknife Small Grants are based on the simple but powerful idea that everyone has something to contribute.
Your support helps community members like Lani can bring their ideas to life.