Community Foundation to dole out $155K today

Ten area organizations will be among the recipients of more than $155,000 in funding today from the Community Foundation of Southeastern Alberta.

The foundation’s grants committee had five priority areas when deliberating for the fall grant cycle: Strengthening relationships with Indigenous and multicultural groups; encouraging mental health; pursuing an environmentally sustainable future; living a creative and active life; and reducing poverty. Sustainability and partnerships with affiliated organizations were also important for the committee, said grants and administration coordinator Niki Gray.

“The applicants that were approved were supporting youth, health, seniors, safety, justice, community development and education, arts and culture and environment,” Gray said. “All of them combined are encompassing a large variety of organizations and needs in the community.”

The grants are made possible by the generosity of donors, “who see that their gift to CFSEA will keep on giving for generations to come,” said Gray. “We Give is part of our three pillars. We distribute to a broad range of community initiatives and believe that having (the donors) help us create a vibrant, healthy caring community is important.”

The spring 2018 grant cycle pushed CFSEA’s all-time grant giving tally over $5 million.

“To be able to say that the community has received this funding from our donors and the investment income that comes off the donors’ contributions, it’s huge,” said Gray.

The application deadline for the spring 2019 grant cycle is March 15, 2019.