WELLINGTON COUNTY – A number of Wellington County non-profit organizations are among those to receive support under round two of the Emergency Community Support Fund (ECSF).
The program is funded by the Government of Canada and administered in collaboration with United Way Centraide Canada, Community Foundations of Canada and the Canadian Red Cross.
The funding, which aims to support vulnerable members of the community during the COVID-19 pandemic, is distributed locally by organizations such as United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin and the Guelph and Centre Wellington community foundations.
United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin is distributing $276,512 this round.
“These funds are important to our community, as we continue to respond to the impacts of COVID-19”, said Glenna Banda, executive director at United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin.
“Since the pandemic was declared nine months ago, our community’s essential social services organizations have been working tirelessly to provide emergency support, in particular to those with heightened vulnerability.
“We know additional funding is needed in order to continue to meet the increasing demand for services.”
A second call for ECSF was issued in October, with dozens of applications submitted seeking more than $1 million.
A volunteer-led grants committee reviewed applications to “ensure a coordinated approach was taken to distribute funds fairly and ensure maximum impact,” officials say.
“These are issues that our community faced before and COVID-19 has only exacerbated,” said Banda.
“We know many of our community’s vital non-profit organizations are continuing to struggle – the fact that we had more applications this time than in the first round of the ECSF funding back in May and the ask was four times more than what was available, demonstrates the great need right now.”
A press release from the Guelph Community Foundation stated, “We know the need for funding is still significant and we are continuing to advocate for broader recovery and stabilization support for the charitable sector in Guelph and Wellington County.”
Charitable groups within Wellington County that will receive ECSF funding in this round include:
- Immigrant Services Guelph Wellington, $15,000 for senior services;
- Family and Children Services of Guelph and Wellington County, $10,000 for the COVID-19 response planning at the Shelldale Centre;
- Seniors’ Centre for Excellence in north Wellington (via Mapleton Township), $20,000 for the Good for You Food Box Program;
- Guelph/Wellington Seniors Association, $20,000 for its Building Bridges program;
- Everdale Environmental in Erin, $8,000 for “100,000 pounds of fresh food grown in 2021”;
- Hospice Wellington, $5,000 for residence transformation; and
- Alzheimer Society Waterloo Wellington, $3,500 to expand therapeutic recreational programming.
For more information, including more complete lists of funding recipients, visit unitedwayguelph.com or guelphcf.ca.
