The Abbotsford Community Foundation (ACF) has distributed more than $700,000 in funding to 18 Fraser Valley organizations in support of pandemic recovery.
The federal government announced last November that it was providing $400 million for the Community Services Recovery Fund and that community foundations had been selected to distribute the money.
The foundations worked in partnership with the Canadian Red Cross and United Way Centraide. The recovery fund was distributed to charities, non-profits and Indigenous governing bodies.
Denise Thandi, chair of the ACF community grants committee, said the ACF received 28 applications seeking a combined $1.7 million.
“The (committee) worked diligently through the tremendously difficult task of reviewing each and every application and determining which projects would receive funding and what funding amounts would be allocated to those projects,” she said.
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Recipients were selected from Abbotsford, Agassiz, Chilliwack, and Hope. They are:
• Abbotsford Arts Council – $34,001
• Abbotsford Judo Club – $29,300
• Agassiz-Harrison Historical Society – $13,692
• Archway Community Services – $52,100
• BeMorr Society for Mental Heath and Suicide Awareness – $15,000
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Fraser Valley – $97,313
• Chilliwack ElderCollege – $12,303
• Chilliwack Film Society – $32,500
• Chilliwack Metropolitan Orchestra – $12,000
• Chilliwack Park Society – $22,200
• Communitas Supportive Care Society – $82,819
• Hope and Area Transition Society – $45,600
• Hope Community Services – $30,000
• Optimist Club of Chilliwack Imagination Library Fraser Valley – $16,541
• Skwah First Nation – $73,975
• The Centre for Epilepsy and Seizure Education in British Columbia – $72,300
• The Salvation Army Chilliwack – $39,356
• West Abbotsford Community School Society – $20,000
Families Minister Jenna Sudds said the funds will enable the organizations “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 (the Fraser Valley),” she said.