Foodlink Waterloo, Collaborative for Non Profit Enhancement Recognized by Ontario Trillium Foundation

Waterloo - The Ontario Trillium Foundation announced that Foodlink Waterloo and Collaborative for Non Profit Enhancement are two of 19 finalists for its prestigious 2009 Great Grants Awards. The awards recognize Ontario organizations that have demonstrated exceptional results, innovation and a lasting impact on the communities they serve.

Both have been selected as a finalist in the province-wide grants category. The 2009 Great Grants Awards recipients will be recognized by Ontario Culture Minister Aileen Carroll at a ceremony in Toronto November 5.

Foodlink Waterloo

“Buy Local! Buy Fresh!” sums up the extraordinarily successful campaign of

Foodlink Waterloo to reconnect urban food shoppers to local farmers. Foodlink works directly with more than 152 farms in the area, and its ‘Buy Local Buy Fresh!” branding campaign now extends to such local food processors as cider mills, bakeries, butchers, egg grading stations and flower mills, as well as restaurants and retailers. Now recognized as a pioneer in the local food movement, Foodlink is exporting its knowhow to 10 other regions across Ontario. A $162,500 grant over three years (awarded June 2006) enabled the program’s ongoing development.

Collaborative for Non-Profit Enhancement

Capacity Waterloo Region (CWR) is a new locally-developed model to deepen the community’s capacity for innovation and change in the not-for profit sector. Leaders from as many as 300 Waterloo Region not-for-profit organizations will be exposed to new resources and support that boost their leadership skills, trigger more collaboration and idea-sharing and fosters a culture of innovation. CWR is the result of $150,000 in OTF support (awarded June 2006) and an outcome of a collaborative leadership initiative called “Moving Organizations from Good to Great.” Partners in the Collaborative are United Way Kitchener-Waterloo and Area, The Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation and Ontario Trillium Foundation. Activities included forums with community leaders from not-for-profits, government, academia, funders and the for-profit sector as well as exploration of new ways to collaborate to share knowledge and fund new ideas, program and models.

“Great Grants Award finalists have been selected for the outstanding and long term impact their projects are having on the people and communities they serve,” said Ontario Trillium Foundation Chair Helen Burstyn.

“We are very proud of Foodlink Waterloo and Collaborative for Non Profit Enhancement. We’re excited that, with these nominations, the work of both these local groups will now be acknowledged across Ontario. Their efforts go to the heart of the Foundation’s own work: to support good ideas and help foster community connections that improve people’s quality of life,” said Waterloo/Wellington/Dufferin Grant Review Team Chair Lucie Allard.

* Ontario Trillium Foundation Great Grants Award finalists were selected from among some 4,500 groups that received OTF support between April 2005 and December 2008

· Seven Great Grants will be awarded November 5th in Toronto:

§ One for each of OTF’s four funded sectors: Arts and culture, sports and recreation, environment, and human and social services

§ The Minister’s Award – For the province-wide program grant that demonstrates a significant impact across the province

§ The Chair’s Award – Chosen from among all the Great Grants nominees

§ The CEO’s Award – Chosen from among all the Great Grants nominees

* The OTF grants funding to approximately 1,500 organizations each year.