It's been said it takes a village to raise a child, well, it took the entire town of Diamond Valley to Raise the Roof at the Griffiths Community Centre.
The popular centre has been a hub for community activities for decades right along Government Road in the heart of Black Diamond. With the amalgamation of the two towns of Black Diamond and Turner Valley, the centre now serves both.
Back in May of 2024, the board of directors got together to discuss a fundraising campaign to fix the roof which had developed some leaks over the last number of years. He says they tried patching it up, but it just got continually worse.
"For about the last four years we knew the roof was leaking, we had a metal roof. When we eventually had water coming in through the light fittings, we knew we really had to get something done about this. Otherwise, we were going to lose the whole building."
President of the board for the Centre, Ken Dutton says board secretary Linda Burke worked tirelessly to motivate the team to hit their goal of $37,000.
Dutton says the cooperation from the Town, local businesses and townsfolk was unbelievable.
"Far too many people to list to thank but just to thank our members, to thank our visitors and our community members, and also all the businesses that supported us. You know who you are and we really, really appreciated all that work."
Part of the funding came from a $25,000 grant for the federal New Horizons for Seniors program leaving the board with another $12,000 to find.
Dutton explained that they had a 50/50 draw amongst other fundraisers with about two-thirds of the money coming from members and about a third of the money coming from businesses in town.
The work was completed in mid-August by local contractor Daza Roofing.