Over $160,000 to be granted by CFKA to 17 community initiatives at 16 local organizations

The Community Foundation for Kingston and Area will be granting $163,235 in Spring Community Grants to support 17 initiatives by local community service organizations, projected to directly impact 40,030 individuals, including 24,494 youth.

Spring Community Grants Recipients:

• Camp Outlook, “New Camping Equipment for Camp Outlook”
• Frontenac County Schools Museum, “Frontenac County Schools Museum Garden Project Extension”
• Girls Incorporated of Limestone, Algonquin and Lakeshore, “Crisis Support for Girls Ed Families”
• I Challenge Diabetes, “Diabetes Paddling Workshop”
• Kidney Foundation of Canada – Kingston Branch, “Camp Dorset Subsidy”
• Kingston Canadian Film Festival, “Spring Reverb 2023”
• Kingston Community Health Centres, “Community Food Redistribution Warehouse”
• Kingston Community Health Centres, “Serve and Return: Train the Trainer”
• Martha’s Table Community Program, “Service Expansion Project – Spring into Indoor Services!”
• Queen’s University, “Q Camps – Queen’s University Athletics and Recreation”
• Skeleton Park Arts Festival, “Skeleton Park Crosswalk Murals”
• Spinal Cord Injury Ontario, “SCIO Community Connection”
• Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada, “Pediatric Mental Health Support Programs for Kingston Health Sciences Centre”
• The Food Sharing Project, “Administrative Assistant for The Food Sharing Project 2023-2024”
• The Spire / Sydenham Street United Church, “Performance Hall Upgrade”
• Together We Stand Military Family Foundation, “Emergency Fund Request – 2023”
• Wintergreen Studios, “Autumn Land Art BioBlitz”

A full list and desscriptions of the 17 funded projects can be found below.

The Foundation’s wide array of granting interests include Arts & Culture, Children’s Mental Health, Community Development, Education & Literacy, Environment, Health & Social Services, Heritage Preservation, Recreation, and Youth.

Funding for these new projects comes from the Foundation’s $25.7 million (March 31, 2023) portfolio of endowment funds – funds established by individual, families, and organizations seeking to build a community in which we all thrive together. The Spring Community Grants program was greatly assisted by a team of 17 community-based volunteer reviewers who played an essential role in the granting process by reviewing the grants applications.

Arts & Culture (4 Projects)

The Spire / Sydenham Street United Church – Performance Hall Upgrade, $13,549
Funded by: The Audrey and Peter Scholes Memorial Fund

The Spire is an emerging centre for the arts in Kingston and needs to develop its production capacity, specifically its technical production capabilities. The funds will be used to purchase a lighting board and the greater lighting system to offer to performing arts organizations and other presenting organizations to improve production value and reduce rental expenses and set-up costs.

Impact: 10,000 Individuals (including 1,000 Youth)

Skeleton Park Arts Festival – Skeleton Park Crosswalk Murals, $4,533

Funded by: the Valerie Robertson Women in Theatre Fund, and The Audrey and Peter Scholes Memorial Fund

The Crosswalk Mural Pilot Project is a new initiative that aims to support community development through public art, engage residents and artists in art making, and help create more vibrant neighbourhoods across Kingston. The project will bring together diverse local professional artists, elementary school students, community services, and Skeleton Park neighbourhood residents, for collaborative mural creations painted directly onto temporarily closed streets surrounding McBurney Park (aka Skeleton Park) for the 2023 Skeleton Park Arts Festival.

Impact: 3,000 Individuals (including 1,000 Youth)

Frontenac County Schools Museum – Frontenac County Schools Museum Garden Project Extension, $807

Funded by: Tha’teioneniienawa’khontie: In the Spirit of Cooperation

The Museum will develop an Indigenous “Three Sisters” component to the garden, to be planted using heritage seeds from a local Indigenous organization. The project will be expanded further by establishing a second garden with vegetables and medicinal plants, as well as a wildflower bed. These gardens will be used create new avenues of programming for the Museum and establish new and important connections with the local Indigenous community.

Impact: 500 Individuals (including 125 Youth)

Kingston Canadian Film Festival – Spring Reverb 2023, $5,000

Funded by: the Edward Ratcliffe Fund, and The Audrey and Peter Scholes Memorial Fund

SPRING REVERB is a four-day exhibition that promotes, develops and showcases the Kingston music scene, to uncover emerging artists, encourage “deals” between local artists and visiting industry, provide opportunities for learning, and of course, celebrate live music in Kingston. The event is also open to the general public, with much of the programming offered at low/no cost, located at an assortment of venues in downtown Kingston.

Impact: 1,000 Individuals (including 500 Youth)

 

Children’s Mental Health (3 Projects)

Girls Incorporated of Limestone, Algonquin and Lakeshore – Crisis Support for Girls Ed Families, $14,262
Funded by: the Larry Gibson Community Fund; Gordon F. Tompkins Funeral Home Children’s Endowment Fund; Michael Potter Memorial Fund; Cyril E. Wharrie and Evelyn D. Wharrie Fund; Theda Anderson Fund; Robert W. Clark Endowment Fund; Elisabeth Heney Fund for Literacy; Kingston Youth Science and Technology Fund; Marion Meyer Opportunity Fund; Kingston Whig-Standard Literacy Endowment Fund; Young Adults Mental Health Fund; Youth Community Fund; Terry Harris Endowment Fund; Rose Family Fund; The Tackaberry Heating Supplies Fund; and Judy Harvie Smart & Caring Fund

The project will provide 64 high-needs girls, women, and families in Kingston and area with direct financial supports to increase food security, secure and maintain stable housing, assist families fleeing abusive situations, access mental health supports, and more. By meeting the basic needs of families in crisis, Girls Inc. will equip them with the tools to overcome pandemic-related adversity, trauma and barriers, focus on their education and employment goals and work towards self-sufficiency.

Impact: 64 Individuals (including 50 Youth)

Kingston Community Health Centres – Serve and Return: Train the Trainer, $16,686

Funded by: Eddie Bak Memorial Fund; Gordon Barr Ltd. Fund; Gayle Barr & Peter Bryson Family Fund; Ross and Suzanne Kilpatrick Fund; Community Fund; Neil Currie Davis Fund; Larry Gibson Community Fund; Frank & Sarah Good Memorial Fund; Ronald & Mildred Grant Family Fund; Marin Pest Management Fund; McNevin Family Fund; Anne & Bill Patterson Community Fund; David C. Riley Fund; Ellen Shepherd Community Fund; Russell and Susan Park Memorial Fund; Sunnyside Children’s Fund; Getting Started: Supporting Early Childhood Development Fund; and the Smart & Caring Community Fund

Serve and Return (S&R) supports parents in learning how stress, particularly Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), impacts infant brain development. Over 150 parents gain knowledge and methods to manage stress, and practice evidence-based techniques to engage with their infant. Additionally, this project will train 4 individuals from KCHC staff and allied agencies to become skilled S&R instructors, in order to expand and deliver the S&R program within more agencies, thus serving a wider and more diverse community.

Impact: 300 Individuals

Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada – Pediatric Mental Health Support Programs for Kingston Health Sciences Centre, $14,544

Funded by: the Henry Fund, and the Sunnyside Children’s Fund

While doctors and nurses focus on treatments, Starlight Canada is here to make sure hospitalized kids have the chance to be just that – a kid. Children are susceptible to experiencing psychological problems in the wake of a traumatic event and hospitalization. From activity kits and interactive gaming stations to parties, Starlight brings the sparkle and smiles to the hospital to help support every kid through their stay!

Impact: 4,380 Youth

 

Environment (1 Project)

Wintergreen Studios – Autumn Land Art BioBlitz, $7,990

Funded by: the Ruth and Stu Barton Environmental Fund; Chown Fund; Environmental Legacy Fund; Douglas Branton Fell Memorial Fund; Ontario Endowment for Children and Youth in Recreation Fund; Edward Ratcliffe Fund; and the McArthur Connidis Arts Fund

The Autumn Land Art BioBlitz (LABB) will offer day-long adventures featuring scientific workshops and arts activities throughout the months of September and October 2023 to celebrate the beauty and diversity of the natural world during the fall season. Participants will have a host of opportunities to explore Wintergreen’s 200-acre sanctuary, taking part in a wide array of workshops and activities that highlight the rich diversity of plant, animal, and fungi life in the Frontenac Arch Biosphere during the fall.

Impact: 125 Individuals (including 80 Youth)

 

Health & Social Services (5 Projects)

Together We Stand Military Family Foundation – Emergency Fund Request – 2023, $14,483

Funded by: the Ruth and Stu Barton Community Fund; Community Fund; Aaron and Norma Palmer Endowment Fund; Anonymous Endowment Fund; and the William Cherry Fund

The demands of military life, including multiple relocations, frequent absences, deployments, and unpredictable work hours are typical sources of stress for military families that can affect their well-being. In addition, the financial health of Canadian military families continues to be on the decline. Operation Emergency Fund addresses the needs of emergency housing, mental health services, emergency childcare, and food security, ensuring that funding is distributed within 72 hours of receiving the request and the confidentiality of the family in need.

Impact: 246 Individuals (including 86 Youth)

Kingston Community Health Centres – Community Food Redistribution Warehouse, $10, 357

Funded by: The Tragically Hip Community Fund; Richard Moorehouse Fund; The Bronskill Group Fund; Wilson Family Fund; Sandiford Family Fund; Peter Hartel Community Fund; Skolnick Family Fund; Jim & Julie Parker Fund; and the Regina (Gini) Rosen Fund

The Warehouse reduces food insecurity in KFL&A by supporting the rescue and distribution of donated and purchased food to over 32 front line agencies in the area. In addition, it provides the space and needed infrastructure to pack and distribute 850 food boxes monthly to families and seniors in our community. In the past year there has been a significant increase in the amount of fresh and frozen food distributed to front line agencies, enhancing the nutritional support they provide to at-risk clients.

Impact: 3,000 Individuals (including 500 Youth)

Martha’s Table Community Program – Service Expansion Project – Spring into Indoor Services!, $34,133

Funded by: the Community Fund; Regina Rosen Food First Fund; Parker Family Fund; Bill & Nancy Gray Fund; and the K-Town Tri Legacy Fund

Martha’s is returning to indoor service to reduce social isolation, to offer warming and cooling areas, and to serve meals indoors in a manner that enhances dignity. Due to the pandemic, the number of meals they serve has increased by 235%, and they will continue offering takeout meals and door to door delivered meals. This project will allow them to return to a level of service that best meets participants’ needs.

Impact: 600 Individuals (including 50 Youth)

Spinal Cord Injury Ontario – SCIO Community Connection, $5,104

Funded by: the Helping Hands for those with Disabilities Fund

A spinal cord injury can happen to anyone at any time – whether through traumatic injury or disease. This project provides a hand to guide people back to their communities and their lives, and support to family members. They offer a community of people with lived experience to act as role models, sharing knowledge and support to help the newly injured find a way forward to their best life.

Impact: 80 Individuals

Kidney Foundation of Canada – Kingston Branch – Camp Dorset Subsidy, $2,000

Funded by: the Marion and John Dunn Fund, and the Cameron and Laurie Thompson Fund

This project seeks to make summer vacation a reality for families living with kidney disease by subsidizing the program cost for each patient attending Camp Dorset. Due to the limitations of dialysis treatment, many patients are not able to take a vacation with their family. Camp Dorset has an on-site dialysis center that can provide treatment to patients while they spend time away with their family.

Impact: 10 Individuals

 

Youth (4 Projects)

The Food Sharing Project – Administrative Assistant for The Food Sharing Project 2023-2024, $13,476

Funded by: the Ruth and Stu Barton Community Fund, David C. Riley Fund, and the David Middleton North End Development Fund

The Food Sharing Project provides food to schools across KFL&A for their in-school meal and hearty snack programs. Each week, school nutrition program coordinators order from a list of nutritious food items, then volunteers pack about 450 boxes of food, which staff deliver to 88 schools in 4 school boards all throughout KFL&A. Food is available to any student who needs nutrition in a stigma-free, supportive environment.

Impact:  16,000 Youth

I Challenge Diabetes – Diabetes Paddling Workshop, $2,000

Funded by: the Marion and John Dunn Fund, and the Ontario Endowment for Children and Youth in Recreation Fund

Many children and youth with type 1 diabetes (T1D), struggle to access recreational activities in an environment that understands and supports their diabetes. This funding will support their first-ever Diabetes Paddling Workshop in Kingston, providing an estimated 18 children and youth living with T1D to paddle the Great Cataraqui River while building-in diabetes education and mentorship in a safe and supportive environment to promote long-term health.

Impact: 20 Individuals (including 18 Youth)

Camp Outlook – New Camping Equipment for Camp Outlook, $1,079

Funded by: the Bill and Gladys Kelly Community Fund, and the Ontario Endowment for Children and Youth in Recreation Fund

The funds will be used to purchase 30 new dry bags for their summer canoe tripping program to replace worn out existing stock. These 20-liter dry bags are waterproof, tear-proof, and resealable, and are an essential piece of equipment on a canoe trip in order to keep clothing and sleeping bags dry for the health and safety of campers and trip leaders.

Impact: 675 Youth

Queen’s University – Q Camps – Queen’s University Athletics and Recreation, $3,233

Funded by: the Ontario Endowment for Children and Youth in Recreation Fund

The project goal is to encourage children and youth (ages 5 to 18) from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds to enroll and participate in Q Camps, an athletic and recreational camp at Queen’s University. Q Camps allow children and youth to gain first-hand experience in sport and develop a love for physical activity. This funding will cover the registration cost of enrolling approximately 30 children and youth from the underserved community to participate in 2023 Summer Q Camps.

Impact: 30 Youth