The Grand Bend Community Foundation announces the community grants funding for 2014.
” We are delighted to announce our 2014 grants. This has been a very special year for us, as we have now exceeded one million dollars in grants to the community since the foundation was founded in 2001. The founding members should be very proud ” Hank Winters -Chair
“This year we had a total of 21 grant applicants with the total dollars requested up over 65 % from 2013. The grants committee did a great job on sorting through the applications and dividing up the funds available as best as it could, to make the most positive impact on their community. The results were an overall approval rate of 71.4 % of applicants receiving some level of grant funding. ” David Campbell -Executive Director
The grants committee is composed of a blend of community members and Grand Bend Community Foundation board members. The committee meets to review the applications for completeness, eligibility and impact.
Grant applications are reviewed for eligibility and impact, which ensures the applicants are registered charities or have a charitable partner, the impact the project will have on the local community and residents and current community needs and best fit for the community.
The grants committee recommends the grants to the board of directors of the foundation and then the board reviews and discusses each recommended grant. The board then has to vote to approve the the final list of grants and funding.
In 2014 the following list of charities and projects have received funding. (funding provided by)
Grand Bend Community garden- partner Lambton Shores ( Environment Fund)
Earth Rises Environmental Seminar (Environment Fund)
Lambton Kent District School Board – local student bursary. (The M J Muma Fund)
Drayton- Huron Country Playhouse – Accessibility & lighting (Community Fund)
YMCA – Grand Bend Youth (The Relouw Fund and The True Sport Foundation)
Community Improvement Coalition Feasibility study (Community Fund)
ABCA Phragmites control projects (Community Fund)
Friends of Hay Town Hall – restoration project (The Hay Communications Fund)
Big Brothers Big Sisters South Huron – Big Bunch project and School mentoring (Community Fund)
Bosanquet Central School – Digital Literacy project (Community Fund)
Grand Bend 5000 trees project – tree replanting (Community Fund)
Lambton Shores -Grand Bend Stage project (Community Fund)
Grand Bend Art Centre – art angels project (Charlotte Edwards Robinson Memorial Fund For The Arts)
Grand Bend Klondyke Soccer Fields facility upgrades ( The 2001 London Alliance Canada Summer Games fund,The Relouw Fund and The True Sport Foundation)
Grand Bend Beach Enhancement – scheduled payment (Community Fund)
Flow Through – Vision Ministries (Paul Turnbull)
Through the continued building of the community fund, funds established by local donors and flow through donations the Grand Bend Community Foundation has been able to grant over 1,070,000 dollars since 2001 .
“We are delighted to have received so many great quality grant applications this year. Each grant application was focused on enhancing our community, we wished we could have funded them all at some level. The grants being made this year to education, youth recreation, the environment, social services and local infrastructure projects will make a real difference to our community. We also really appreciate the matching funds pledged by The True Sport Foundation on two of the Youth recreation projects. Through these grants I believe we are living our mission: We connect people and charities to build a smart and caring community. “ David Campbell -Executive Director, Grand Bend Community Foundation.
About the Grand Bend Community Foundation.
The Grand Bend Community Foundation was established in 2001 and provides both community leadership and grants to local charities and projects. We have three main activities.
- We build and manage funds that are invested for the long-term
- We use a portion of the income from our funds to support local charities that have bright ideas to improve our community
- We provide leadership in our community.
To learn more about the Grand Bend Community Foundation, please visit www.grandbendcommunityfoundation.ca