Community Foundation comes through for rural residents

Dec 16, 2020

The Community Foundation for Kingston and Area fall granting announcement on December, featured its the largest ever number of grants and a record total commitment of over $400,000.

In a release accompanying the grant announcement, the foundation said that it received a record $1.1 million in requests, an indication that “charities in all fields of interest are feeling the impacts of the pandemic.”

At least 9 of the 33 grants that were announced on December 1, went to rural services. Over $87,000 is going to projects that are based in Frontenac County

Among those grants, the largest was $34,137 to Southern Frontenac Community Services (SFSC), to be used to purchase and install a walk-in freezer for their Community Food program.

The SFCS program has been increasing in popularity: last year, over 14,000 very affordable frozen meals were distributed.

As SFSC Director David Townsend pointed out, “a walk-in freezer will be an efficiency in both electricity and staff time, replacing the current seven free-standing freezers tucked in wherever space permits.”

Other grants:

$14,500 grant to North Frontenac Little Theatre. The funding will cover upgrades to Oso Hall in Sharbot Lake for preparing and installing a new North Frontenac Little Theater theatrical lighting system to accommodate future theatre productions in their new location.

New Leaf Link is receiving $14,973 in program funding. The money will assist program instructors to implement simultaneous program delivery models until October 2021, including virtual program delivery, regular wellness checks, and the eventual return to in-person programming at least 1 day/week.

The Central Frontenac Railway Museum is receiving $5,000 for the purchase and installation of two outdoor benches, associated plaques, and two trash receptacles.

The South Frontenac Museum Society is receiving $3,000 for technology upgrades to out dated laptops and equipment for the museum.

The Queen’s University Biological Station is receiving $5,000 for the Elbow Lake Trail Accessibility & Interpretive Signage Project. Thanks to the funding, a portion of the Elbow Lake Environmental Education Centre, which is located near Perth Road, will see a portion its popular hiking trail become accessible to all.

Loughborough Public School is receiving $15,000. The funds will be used to convert an existing classroom at the school into a teaching kitchen, and to build a greenhouse so students can be involved in the process of planting, cultivating, and harvesting healthy foods.

Beyond Classrooms Kingston is receiving $8,623 to make Beyond Classroom Kingston’s successful on-site program, emphasizing inquiry-based learning, accessible to rural classrooms by using an online platform delivery model.

The Food Sharing Project will receive $15,000 to support the provision of healthy food meeting provincial nutrition guidelines to over 80 schools throughout Kingston, Frontenac, and Lennox and Addington.