We are announcing the funding of three projects which respond to COVID-19 needs in our community. These projects are funded by our Community Grants Program.

Frontenac Kingston Council on Aging
The Sunshine Call Pilot – Rebuilding Isolated Seniors’ Social Networks ($8,115)

Sunshine Call Pilot is a well-considered response to the critical epidemic of vulnerable senior loneliness and isolation, a need more prevalent now with seniors self-isolating indefinitely at home. Through this project, a cohort of trained volunteers (seniors themselves) will phone participating isolated seniors at a specific time each day to conduct a wellness check and connect participants through a teleconference-type party line, to rebuild their social networks. The volunteers will facilitate the discussion and encourage participants to maintain the established connections independently.

To learn more about this project watch the interview with John Mirski and YourTV
https://www.yourtv.tv//node/261176?c=kingston

Outreach by George
Lunch by George – Upgraded Kitchen Stoves ($15,396)

Lunch by George offers a free, hot nutritious lunch every weekday at 11 o’clock, often the only hot meal many of their clients eat each day. Lunch by George will continue to serve hot takeout meals to those in need during the COVID-19 crisis. Their domestic stoves are worn out. They are concerned about costly breakdowns and downtime. This grant will allow for the purchase of two professional grade 30-inch ranges that can be delivered and installed in their heritage building so that they can provide uninterrupted safe meal service for those in need.

To learn more about this service watch the interview with YourTV
https://www.yourtv.tv//node/260046?c=kingston

Bereaved Families of Ontario – Kingston Region
Supporting the Kingston Community with Virtual Bereavement ($7,900)

Grief is made even more challenging in this time of physical distancing. This grant will allow Bereaved Families of Ontario–Kingston Region to continue to deliver grief-support services to the Kingston community through text, chat, and videoconferencing platforms.

To learn more about the support service watch the interview with YourTV
https://www.yourtv.tv//node/260031?c=kingston

We have awarded grants this spring round to those that, by their nature, remained relevant in the current context.  The uncertainties we are facing with our partner charities have motivated the Foundation to be strategic about the allocation of our available funds for the community’s response to and recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.

The Foundation is currently exploring what our granting process and priorities for 2020 should be to ensure that our grants will respond to most pressing needs. We are in consultation with other funders and our charitable-sector partners, evaluating immediate needs and those anticipated in the medium-to-longer-term recovery period.

CFKA has been supporting community well-being for 25 years, and we will continue to be here to support local charities and the people and causes they serve during these challenging times – and beyond. Stay tuned for details on future granting as we help our community respond to and recover from the effects of COVID-19.