Grant Recipients - October 2011

OCTOBER 2011 GRANTS

NOTE: All grants are from the Community Endowment Fund except were noted.

CHIMO HELPLINE: The CHIMO Helpline is a provincial crisis phone line that is accessible 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. They assist callers by providing helpful information, crisis intervention and referrals to over 4,000 recourses in New Brunswick. This grant is to assist with costs for Chimo’s annual Volunteer Training Program. The training takes place over two weekends in addition to 12 hours of one-on-one in-house training.

GREATER FREDERICTON VOLUNTEER CENTRE: For many years, Fredericton lacked a central volunteer coordinating mechanism. As a result of the Fredericton Social Innovation Open Space Forum, it became clear that Fredericton embraces the spirit of volunteering. Organizers are now busy building awareness and support of this initiative and working on the development of a virtual volunteer matching service. This grant will assist with the costs associated with the continued development of the Volunteer Centre.

ECOLE SAINTE-ANNE: Ecole Sainte-Anne is currently developing a Sensory Stimulation Room for students with special needs in grades K-12. These rooms assist those with special needs to get the stimulation they require to encourage them to interact with their environment and increase or maintain functional skills. The grant will be used to purchase a Somatron Ball Pool.

AUTISM CONNECTIONS FREDERICTON: This grant will be used to purchase program materials for a new program called “Express Yourself: Music, Art and Autism”. This project will allow children with autism to express themselves in a new and different way. This is not intended as a therapy but rather an opportunity for parents/caregivers to determine if they would like to explore this method of communication. The music component of this grant was provided from the Lillian Covey Fund with the remainder provided by the Community Fund.

BEST BUDDIES CANADA: Best Buddies is a program that helps provide friendships for persons with intellectual disabilities. This grant will assist with expansion of their existing program in Fredericton. Their program currently exists at 6 local schools and they plan to expand into another four schools as well as increasing their membership at all chapters.

COMMUNITY HEALTH CLINIC: The Community Health Clinic provides health care to low income and at-risk populations in Fredericton. This grant will provide for the purchase or replacement of medical equipment such as blood pressure cuffs, stethoscopes an ECG machine. The clinic is also fundraising to raise the balance of the funds required.

FREDERICTON FOOD BANK: This Fredericton Food Bank is working to have the Marysville Place Community Garden ready for start-up in the spring of 2012. This grant will be used for purchases such as topsoil, compost, tools, etc. The funds for this grant were provided from the Blanchard Family Poverty Reduction Fund and the Community Fund.

MINLAK TRAINING PROGRAMS INC.: Minlak Training Programs offers developmental activities and training for disabled adults aged 19 to 64 in the Minto/Chipman area. This grant will be used for the expansion of their Dog Treat program into the Chipman School (Grades 6 – 12). In the Dog Treat program, special needs students and their teacher’s aide work with a Minlak client and staff member to produce the treats. The students sell the treats in the school and the Minlak client sells the treats at Minlak. Students and clients are involved in all aspects of the project (shopping, baking, packaging, finances, etc.) Proceeds from Minlak sales go back into the program; proceeds from school sales are used to benefit the student’s classroom with extra-curricular activities.

CNIB: The CNIB is a resource for those who are blind or partially sighted. This grant is for their Vision Risk Assessments project which is being undertaken in collaboration with the Canadian Red Cross. This program will reach out to low income seniors living in Senior’s Public Housing Buildings to provide vision risk assessments. These assessments will be provided annually to seniors and the grant will assist all associated costs.

MUSICAL VENTURES INC.: Musical Ventures Inc.’s goal is to promote, support and deliver classical chamber music to the province of New Brunswick. Their two main projects are The New Brunswick Summer Music Festival (a two-week long annual chamber music festival that offers live performances, music education and artist development initiatives) and Atlantic Sinfonia Atlantique (a professional chamber music ensemble). This grant will assist with costs for the second phase of the School Partnership and Educational Program. This program brings professional classical musicians to the classroom for talks and demonstrations. These visits are coordinated with the Atlantic Sinfonia’s concerts in Fredericton and free passes to the concerts are provided to students at each school event. Funds for this grant are provided by the Lillian Covey Fund.

CISV FREDERICTON: CISV brings together young people from different backgrounds, developing cross-cultural knowledge and leadership as well as promoting the CISV values in their local communities. Each year CISV youth and adults travel to international CISV programs around the world. This grant will assist with the costs of hosting an International Summer Camp in Fredericton for youth ages 13 – 15. There will be 32 – 40 youth from several countries including Canada participating in the three week camp.