Victoria BC: Youth sail training charity SALTS (Sail and Life Training Society) has received a donation of a 69-foot yacht recently appraised at $1 million. Florida-based businessman and philanthropist James C. Ray donated his sloop Tango which is moored in Sidney, BC. SALTS is now seeking a buyer for the yacht so that the funds gained from the sale can be used to help construct a new 140-foot wooden schooner. The new schooner SALTS builds will provide sail training to teens and young adults alongside the society’s two existing tall ships. Ray’s private foundation has also pledged an additional $250K towards the construction project to be given at a future date. The total of donations and pledges to the project now exceeds $3 million.
SALTS currently has 70 schools from BC and Alberta on waiting lists to sail, and the new ship is being built to meet that existing demand for the very popular youth development program for ages 13-25. Over 1700 young people sail with SALTS annually, and the new ship will increase capacity to 2550 annually. More information on SALTS and its programs is available at www.salts.ca.
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