Members of North Hastings Children’s Services’ Youth Advisory Board presented to the Community Development committee Tuesday hoping to get rainbow crosswalks in Town in support of the LGBTQ+ community.
Committee approved one crosswalk that will be in front of the post office. There are two other potential spots for crosswalks and the Youth Advisory Board said they would like to have rainbow stairs in front of Bancroft’s Municipal office. While the three other locations are possible, Mayor Paul Jenkins suggested starting with the post office location first as a trial run to make sure they use the correct type of paint. If all goes well, they will look to do the same at the other locations.
Before the crosswalk is painted, the Town will work with the Public Works Department to figure out if the post office location is doable and if any changes need to be made before paint hits the pavement.
“When this project is done and that crosswalk is painted people are going to come around the corner on (highway) 28 and I think they’re just going to smile,” Co-chair of the Community Development committee Valerie Miles says.
“We received a lot of letters from the community, ” Youth Advisory Board member Brianne Crawford, who led the presentation, tells My Bancroft Now. She says they got nine pages worth of support letters.
Valerie Miles says that seeing the younger members of the community being the ones to pitch this idea is great. She points to the Town’s Strategic Planner Malcolm Hunt who told council that it’s important for them to listen to youth. “Through his consultation with the community it was identified that people are happy here, but people are looking for change,” Miles adds about Hunt’s strategic plan for Bancroft.
It was mentioned during the presentation that the Youth Advisory Board wants the Town to cover the costs associated with the rainbow crosswalk. Crawford says that if all goes well, the other three locations will be looked at.
Fundraising events are also in the works to help support the crosswalks. Crawford says they still need to sit down and plan the fine details of the events.
“Symbols like this it just makes you feel more included, it makes you feel less judged and it makes you feel like your community is embracing you,” Miles says of the LGBTQ+ community.