A $10,000 donation will give older adults the chance to perform at the Winkler Senior Centre.

Thanks to the recent grant from the Winkler Community Foundation, the centre was able to install a wheelchair lift to the stage.

One local senior had enjoyed singing for many years, but mobility issues kept her from performing on the raised stage at the centre.

The 24 God's Little Artists pre-school students dropped by the senior centre earlier this month. "The opportunities open up when you have a lift like this," WCF Executive Director Myra Peters says. "Accessibility is  such a huge thing... and so we're happy to be a part  of it."

 Senior Centre Nettie Dyck explains the stage is well used by many local choirs and musicians, but the lift will allow even  more to participate.

 "There are already a lot of barriers in our golden years," Dyck explains. "If we can eliminate any of those barriers and  include people... and not feel intimidated by any mobility barriers, what a great opportunity."

 "This is a real blessing," she says.

 As another expression of paying it forward, a local daycare class stopped by the senior centre this month to share a love  of art and song.

The God's Little Artists group of children ages three to six.

"The focus was paying it forward, pouring into our community, into our seniors," Jennifer Krahn of God's Little Artists, says.

Preschool students created crafts with local seniors at the Buhler Active Living Centre.