Local community foundation grants $617,000 during the first half of 2010

Waterloo - The Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation (KWCF) awarded $617,000 in grants this past spring to support non profit organizations in Kitchener-Waterloo and area.

“The work of our talented non profit organizations and the positive impact their programs and initiatives make is what truly makes our community a vital, creative, and innovative place,” shares KWCF CEO, Rosemary Smith.

So far, 127 grants have been made to 92 different non profit organizations in our community this year, with another granting session happening in the fall.

The KWCF distributed funds to a diverse number of projects and programs including ROOF (Reaching Our Outdoor Friends). “ROOF is very grateful to The KWCF for their continued support of homeless and at-risk youth in the Region, says Sandy Bell, Executive Director of ROOF. “The funds from The KWCF's spring grant will be used to support one of ROOF's social enterprise programs. As a catering and lunch delivery program, ROOF Lunchbox is similar to an apprenticeship in that homeless and/or at-risk youth learn a new skill, have access to expert instruction, and develop potential references for future employment.”

Another grant was made to K-W Counselling. “Our Parenting with Passion program has been approached by four different cultural groups over the past two years, to help them deliver and train their natural leaders with our highly effective and evidence-based parenting curriculum,” says K-W Counselling’s Director of Family and Community Solutions, Deb DeJong. “Because of the generous funding of The KWCF, we are now able to move forward and train multicultural facilitators to deliver these parenting workshops to over 200 newcomers – helping them get a good start in Waterloo Region.”

Identifying projects like these that improve quality of life has been a focus for The KWCF over the past few years. Working on projects like Waterloo Region’s Vital Signs and most recently Vital Ideas, The KWCF has provided valuable insight into our Region’s strengths and challenges and inspired others to take action.

Adds Smith, “We believe in a vision of building a better community where friends help friends, families help families, and neighbours help neighbours. A community where everyone benefits.”