Brockville and Area Community Foundation names grant recipients
COMMUNITY May 12, 2017 by Doreen Barnes St. Lawrence News
The successful applications to the Brockville and Area Community Foundation (BACF) were revealed on Tuesday, May 9 in the Brockville Arts Centre gallery/lobby by Executive Director Joyce Ferguson.
"It is certainly a special year for us because of Canada's 150th community matching grants, we are able to give twice out as much as we already do to the community," said Ferguson.
From the 150th Community Fund for Canada (federal initiative), $40,000 was matched and delivered, along with the BACF Endowment Grants of $19,350 to local charities.
The grants for Canada's 150th were presented to: Augusta Township Public Library — $3,500 toward the launch and promotion of a book, The Stones of Augusta; Brockville Community Choir — $1,000 for Music Monday; Brockville Public Library — $5,000 toward virtual reality experiences; Children's Mental Health of Leeds and Grenville (Making Play Possible) — $6,000 to connect children with artistic recreation; the City of Brockville — $9,000 broken down to the Tunnel Committee ($4,500 for official opening), Rails to Trails Festival ($4,500 to be used for the four-day event); Friends of the Brockville Museum — $5,000 for the Children's Newcomer's Exhibit; Thousand Islands River Heritage in Mallorytown — $6,000 toward updating a room to exhibit Canada's first glassworks; and Town of Prescott — 4,500 broken down to South Grenville ($2,000 to promote local and nationwide stories) and the Fort Town Concert Association ($2,500 for classical-style music concerts).
As for the Brockville and Area Community Foundation grants from endowments, the following were dispersed from the City of Brockville Legacy Endowment fund to the City of Brockville: $8,000 to the Douglas Scott Jr. Memorial Endowment; $1,000 to the St. Lawrence College Police Foundations Scholarship; the John and Margery Davis Endowment of $800 went to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Weekender Program for Kids; the Henry Merkx Memorial Bursary Endowment of $250 to Athens District High School, from the Hope Fund, Assistance for Medical Travel; $1,300 was awarded to May Court Club of Brockville; and the Thomas Dailey Endowment Fund of $8,000 went to the Historic Downtown Brockville for the Waterfront Walking Trails.
The foundation was established in 1974 and is dedicated to establishing endowment funds to support charitable initiatives.
"The foundation has given funding to many major projects including the restoration of Sally Grant, restoration of the Fulford Fountain, Sundial at Blockhouse Island, Project Encore at the Brockville Arts Centre, the signs along the Brock Trail, and just last November the opening of the Thomas P. Dailey Bridge," shared Ferguson.
For the future, the hope is to achieve the $1-million mark in endowments as well as to build the unrestricted endowments to have a stable base to grant a substantial amount each year to local charities.
