Seven community service organizations in the City of Kawartha Lakes are sharing in $302,000 in federal funding aimed at recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Community Foundation of Kawartha Lakes (CFKL) was the recipient of the funding via the federal government’s Community Services Recovery Fund, a one-time investment of $400 million to help community service organizations adapt, modernize, and be better equipped to improve the efficacy, accessibility and sustainability.
CFKL provided the following projects with the federal funding:
- Academy Theatre Foundation: $72,500 to help modernize communications, marketing and fundraising strategies to build back and better deliver services
- Kawartha Lakes Food Source: $69,800 to support the implementation of fundraising strategy halted by the pandemic.
- Boys and Girls Club Kawarthas: $56,750 to help cover the cost to purchase new technology to improve overall operations.
- Fenelon Falls Seniors’ Centre $45,000 to hire a volunteer recruiter to develop program and re-energize training and outreach to grow volunteer base to pre-COVID level
- A Place Called Home: $29,450 to support the development of a five-year strategic plan to focus priorities for long-term sustainability in support of mandate to support the homeless
- Mishkodeh Centre for Indigenous Knowledge: $18,500 to support accounting and presentation of in-person consultations with local Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities to move to truth, reconciliation and relationship building
- Kinmount Agricultural Society: $10,000 for the to purchase and implement new system to support cashless transactions and point of sale, training, and maintenance
Laurie Dillon-Schalk, executive director of CFKL, says since the early phases of the pandemic, many community service organizations have struggled with increased demand for their services but are facing reduced revenues, declines in donations and rising costs of living and a greater need to make use of digital tools.
“In Kawartha Lakes, our local community service organizations benevolently step up to support and assist those in need,” she said. “As one of three national funders, the Community Foundation of Kawartha Lakes is honoured to play a key role distributing funding to these eligible community service providers in Kawartha Lakes.”
Jenna Sudds, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, says community service organizations are at the forefront of addressing communities’ needs and the funding will support them immediately and help them adapt to the long-term impacts of the pandemic.
“Community service organizations are at the heart of communities like Kawartha Lakes, creating a sense of belonging from coast to coast to coast,” said Sudds. “The Community Services Recovery Fund will enable organizations that serve our diverse communities to adapt and modernize their programs and services and to invest in the future of their organizations, staff and volunteers. Together, we can rebuild from the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic and build a more just and equitable future for those in Kawartha Lakes.”
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