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Sarnia Community Foundation supports variety of projects

Troy Shantz Forty-nine groups and individuals have received grants totaling more than a quarter million dollars from the Sarnia Community Foundation.
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Troy Shantz

Forty-nine groups and individuals have received grants totaling more than a quarter million dollars from the Sarnia Community Foundation.

The money will be used to support initiatives ranging from theatre renovations and recreational subsidies, to helping people out of poverty and understanding the nature of bees.

One of the recipients was the Women’s Interval Home, which received $4,000 from the 35-year old Foundation. The grant will produce information for women and children in crisis, said executive director Michelle Batty.

“Finding funds for print material is always a challenge,” Batty said. “We’re truly grateful to be recipients, especially as the Foundation was able to increase the funding beyond what we applied for.”

The Sarnia Community Foundation began in 1983 with a $25 donation and since continued to bank donations, most of which are less than $100 and come from all walks of life.

A portion is returned annually in the form of community grants, but the principal has been allowed to build and accumulate to pay even bigger dividends.

“In the past five grant years, the Foundation has been able to return well over one million dollars to the communities of Lambton County through grants from its endowed funds and special flow-through projects,” said executive director Jane Anema.

Grants of $236,000 were handed out last month and the total is expected to hit $300,000 by year-end, she added.

Some initiatives with Sarnia connections include:

Aamjiwnaang First Nation: $2,500

Awesome Grants: $2,000

Blue Eyes Big Heart Josh Alderton Scholarship: $750.

Canadian Cancer Society: $1,500

CARDUS: $20,000

City of Sarnia- Summer Festival Series: $5,000

CMHA - Suicide Prevention: $3,000

Community Living Sarnia-Lambton $8,167

County of Lambton - Circles Program: $14,200

Goodwill Essex Kent Lambton: $500

Grace United Church: $1,177

Harmony: $900

Huron House: $1,781

Inn of the Good Shepherd: $3,576

International Symphony Orchestra: $1,850

John Howard Society: $916

Joanne Klauke Labelle Memorial Scholarship: $2,500

Lambton College: $100

Lambton Community Sings $500

Lambton Youth Choir $400

MADD Sarnia/Lambton: $4,500

Gloria Dawn McLeod Award: $200

Susan Moffatt Memorial Scholarship: $4,000

Moore Agricultural Society: $5,000

Organization for Literacy In Lambton: $5,802

Pauline McGibbon School: $5,000

Rayjon Sharecare: $606

Sarnia Airman’s Club (Sarnia): $6,600

Sarnia Christian School: $20,000

Sarnia Historical Society: $5,000

Scouts Canada: $2,600

Seaway Kiwanis Scholarships: $4,000

Society of Saint Vincent De Paul: $1,081

St Clair Child & Youth Services: $4,850

St. Joseph’s Hospice: $4,172

Steeves & Rozema Scholarships: $14,000

Theatre Sarnia: $10,000

Theatre Sarnia for Hidden Talents: $400

United Way of Sarnia Lambton: $2,009

Women’s Interval Home: $4,000

YMCA (Sarnia-Lambton ): $9,528


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