Council to review community grant recommendations

Approval for community grants over and under $5,000 are before council Tuesday night.

The grant process for the municipality is overseen by The Community Foundation. This year, projects that could move forward despite COVID-19 pandemic limitations were given preference.

There are 15 grants over $5,000 being recommended for approval by TCF in co-operation with municipal staff, representing $212,720 in cash and $700 in-kind.

They include:
– LoveSong Seniors Housing and Community Hub: $4,400, plus $700 in-kind.
– Community Development Council of Quinte, food security programs: $5,000
– County Kids Read, Prince Edward Arts Council: $5,000
– DeRAIL platform for Art + Architecture to animate two sections of the Millennium Trail: $4,000
– Festival Players of PEC 2021 summer season: $7,500
– Food to Share meal prep at the County Food Hub: $10,850
– Prince edward County Arts Council programming: $20,000
– 99.3 County FM radio parks reports program: $8,750
– Prince Edward Learning Centre: $26,000
– Prince edward Point Bird Observatory: $4,300
– Reaching for Rainbows online expansion project: $10,000
– Recreation Outreach Centre youth centre programs: $72,000
– The Alzheimer Society HPE support group programming: $5,568
– The Regent Theatre Foundation youth employment and engagement initiative: $24,352
– Volunteer & Information Services HPEC: $5,000.

On the recommendation of the grants committee, nine grants under $5,000 were approved by TCF, for a total of $8,842 in cash and $4,155 in-kind. The $5,000 in-kind generally given for the annual Prince Edward District Women’s Institute’s 38th annual art and craft sale was withdrawn as the event has been cancelled this year due to the pandemic.

They include under $1,000 in-kind:
– Miss Supertest Commemorative banner for Main Street: $255
– Storehouse Food Bank, table settings project: $1,000
– Wellington Community Gardens: $200

Under $5,000 in-kind:
– Picton Free Methodist Church Community Christmas Dinner: $2,700

Under $5,000 cash:
– Naval Marine Archive exhibition art storage: $2,240
– Prince Edward Historical Society historical plaques website: $1,602
– Raising a Village Quinte 2021 Halloween event working name Ghost of Macaulay House: $2,500
– Wellington and District Business Association Shift Yourself Volunteer Co-ordination: $2,500.

The TFC is also recommending council approve improvements to the process which include a grant writing workshop, updating applications to include return on investment as a factor for decision making and longer-term sustainability; revisiting the exclusion of churches from the grants program for beyond faith-based activities such as foodbanks, community meetings, music, literacy and youth groups; and to establish that 20 per cent of the grant can be allocated for operations – administration and overhead.

There was $231,052 available in the 2021 program, representing cash and in-kind contributions. OF 27 applications, 24 were recommended for funding, either in part, or in full. If all above are approved, there is a balance of $4,635 in the fund for this year.