Edmonton Community Foundation’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic (so far)

Like many businesses in our community, the charitable sector has been deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Edmonton’s charitable sector provides essential services that assist vulnerable communities and contribute to the cultural enrichment of our citizens.

In March, Edmonton Community Foundation (ECF) created the COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund (RRF) to address the immediate and long-term needs of the charities working with our community’s most vulnerable.

Thanks to our donors, our charitable sector has been helped with a variety of projects and needs far beyond directly dealing with the virus. Organizations are finding their way while serving vulnerable populations on-line, physically distanced, and with many new protocols in place. ECF will continue to work to preserve the essential work, as well as the infrastructure needed to move forward in a new normal and eventually, recovery.

ECF has committed $1 million of its unrestricted funds to the COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund (RRF) and partnered with the Province of Alberta and donors to grant a total of $1.8 million to more than 150 charities. Additionally, the Government of Canada and Community Foundations of Canada have provided funding to bring our Covid-related granting to a grant total of $4.4 million. Together we have been able to provide resources where they have already had an impact. This article shows the breakdown of the funding and grants to date.

The pandemic is not over, and we are not done. If you wish to make a donation to aid in the recovery of our charitable sector, please go to ecfoundation.org or contact 780-426-0015.

Together we will keep charities and the people they serve operating beyond the pandemic.