A Look at Who Received Fredericton Community Foundation Grants

Cindy Sheppard
Caring matters
Published Thursday May 29th, 2008
Appeared on page B8

The Fredericton Community Foundation recently had the privilege of hosting its third granting session of the year. During the grant session, the Foundation was pleased to offer 19 grants to various charities and organizations in Fredericton.

Over the past few months, I have been writing short information pieces about various non-profit groups in the city. Each piece is but a brief introduction to the great work each agency does. It would take pages of the newspaper to accurately reflect the impact these agencies have on our community and the people they assist each and every day.

At each of the three granting sessions the Foundation has each year, I am always introduced to a charity I was unfamiliar with or unaware of. I want to take this opportunity to introduce readers to 19 agencies in our city. Each of these offers a unique and much-needed service to the citizens of our city. Some of you have heard of them, either through this article or simply by living in our city, while others may be new to you. I would encourage you to explore in more detail, any or all of these groups - find out what they do that impacts the daily life of citizens who reside in Fredericton and the area.

This grant session saw the Foundation offer grants to Bridges of Canada for 20 children to attend its "Bar None" camp this summer.

Worlds Unbound will use its grant to introduce science and engineering to our bright young minds of the future.

The Doone Street/Wilson Row Tenants Association and Hawkins Neville Tenants Association will offer a Summer Tot Lot and youth program, as well as send 10 children to Greenhill Lake Camp and one child to Rotary Camp.

Partners for Youth will send five children who have risk factors in their lives to summer camp.

The Fredericton Heritage Trust program will use its grant to identify and educate the public about seven local icons related to the heritage of Fredericton.

The Canadian Deaf Blind Rubella Association will now have the opportunity to purchase adaptive physical recreational equipment.

The Arthritis Society will be educating Grade 5 students about arthritis through its "Learning about Arthritis" program.

The Learning Disabilities Association of N.B. can now subsidize the registration of 20 participants at its annual spring conference.

The N.B. Summer Music Festival will be offering three daytime events for children at the Summer Music Festival.

Roots of Empathy can now expand its programming in the local schools, working to educate children on empathy and reduce aggressive behaviours.

Dance Fredericton will proceed with its goal of eventually performing The Nutcracker in its entirety, and will now have costumes in which to perform the classic.

The Fredericton Society of Saint Andrews Pipe Band can continue to provide free uniforms and instruments to its members.

Opera New Brunswick will bring more opera opportunities to local youth.

The St. John River Society can continue to offer the River Jubilee for all to enjoy in Officers Square, and Nature NB will have an opportunity to educate four additional youth through a subsidy in their Summer Youth Nature Camp.

In addition, the Foundation was pleased to have had the opportunity to assist the Community Kitchen with its purchase of a new dishwasher and provide unsolicited grants to the Emergency Shelter and the Food Bank.

Each recipient of a grant at this grant session was most deserving and each will use its grant to continue to provide excellent services and opportunities to the community.

The Foundation also provided almost $15,000 in scholarships this past year. As Mother Theresa once said, "If you can't feed a hundred people, feed just one." Each of us can make a small difference and that can amount to a big impact.

Cindy Sheppard is the executive director of the Fredericton Community Foundation. Her column profiling non-profit agencies appears every second Thursday. Please send comments to letters@dailygleaner.com.