Community Foundation awards $770K in grants

The Community Foundation of Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta announces additional grant funding on Monday for charities working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. The grants, which were allocated from the end of June to the end of September, support 40 charities and tally just over $770,000.

Established in March and seeded by the Community Foundation’s unrestricted funds, the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Grants Program has grown to include the Government of Canada’s Emergency Community Support Fund (ECSF) and the Government of Alberta’s Charitable Donation Matching Program, which received generous support from donors across the country. Through this combined support, the Community Foundation has awarded over $1.1 million in grant funding since April in support of charities serving vulnerable populations impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It has been an extraordinary time at the Community Foundation,” said executive director Charleen Davidson in a news release. “We’ve really seen the best in our community as people came together to support one another through this pandemic. All of us at the Community Foundation feel incredibly privileged to be able to facilitate these contributions into southwestern Alberta to help maintain a healthy, vibrant, and inclusive community.”

Successful applicants to the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Grants program include charities across the region working with vulnerable populations. Among the recipients is the Opokaa’sin Early Intervention Society, which received a grant funded through the ECSF to retrofit its playground and fleet vehicles, and to install two new bathrooms and sanitation stations. These updates will allow Opokaa’sin to meet Alberta Health Services standards and reopen certain child-care programs that were temporarily suspended due to restrictions put in place because of COVID19.

The Pincher Creek Foundation, which operates various senior and social housing residences, received a grant funded through the Government of Alberta’s Charitable Donation Matching Program for the purchase of additional program materials to increase social activities for residents. Due to the significant risk COVID-19 poses for seniors, they remain an extremely vulnerable population with significant restrictions on visitation and outings. Following is a list of grant recipients.

COVID-19 Response and Recovery Grants Program

Blood Tribe Administration: Blood Tribe Recreation and Parks, $15,000; Bridges of Hope: Blue Rein Ranch, $9,300; Good Samaritan Society: Prairie Ridge, $13,229; Green Acres Foundation: Golden Acres, $9,842;

Interfaith Food Bank Society of Lethbridge, $3,500; Kidney Foundation of Canada: Southern Alberta, $10,000; Lethbridge Food Bank Society, $10,000; Safe Haven Women’s Shelter, $18,481; Streets Alive Mission, $2,550; and University of Lethbridge Food Bank,

$10,000

Government of Alberta’s Charitable Donation Matching Program

Blackfoot Family Lodge Society, $24,300; Kainai Food Bank Society and the Blood Tribe FCSS, $30,000; Napi Friendship Association, $16,566; Pincher Creek Foundation, Crestview Lodge, $4,565; Shinah House Foundation, $23,400; Taber Special Needs Society and the Taber and District Handi-Bus Association, $2,320; Southern Alberta Self-Help Association, $33,264; and Willow Creek Foundation, $20,000

Emergency Community Support Fund

Allied Arts Council of Lethbridge, $2,000; Blood Tribe Administration, $23,000; Boys and Girls Club of the Foothills, $51,820; Canadian Bhutanese Society, $20,000; Canadian Cancer Society, $10,000; Chinook Sexual Assault Centre, $4,500; Family Centre Society of Lethbridge and District, $9,713; Foothills Detox Centre, $25,800; KidSport, Lethbridge and Taber, $35,000; Lethbridge College, $12,500; Lethbridge John Howard Society, $10,530; Opokaa’sin Early Intervention Society, $75,000; Southern Alberta Ethnic Association, $35,000; South Country Treatment Centre, $40,000; Starlight Children’s Foundation, $8,120; Taber and District

Housing Foundation, $18,000; Town of Fort Macleod, $17,704; Volunteer Lethbridge Association, $17,028; Vulcan County, $17,000; Wandering Willows Fundraising Society, $1,700 (partially funded by the Government of Alberta); YMCA of Lethbridge, $15,000; and YWCA Lethbridge and District, $65,000