Collingwood non-profits net $93K in town culture grants

The Town of Collingwood is ready to sign the cheques for its annual community recreation and culture grants this year.

During council’s May 6 meeting, the town’s acting director of parks, recreation and culture Karen Cubitt formally announced the recipients of this year’s grants, noting that they account for $58,500 in spending on financial grants, and $35,000 in in-kind grants (where rental fees for facilities are waived).

“We’d like to thank community volunteers who assisted with the grant evaluation process, and staff who administer the process with such care,” said Cubitt.

Applications for this year’s grants were open to from Dec. 1, 2023 to Feb. 9. The following organizations were recipients of this year’s grants.

For financial grants in 2024, $1,500 recipients were Blue Mountain Watershed Trust Foundation, Clean Earth, Green Earth, Collingwood Clippers, Collingwood Off-Road Cycling, Collingwood Paddle Club, Collingwood Skating Club, Gaslight Community Theatre, Georgian Triangle Music Teachers’ Association, the Living Wish Foundation, Theatre Georgian Bay, Viva Variety and the Women Probus Club of Pretty River.

The recipients of the $5,000 grants were Altitude Volleyball, Breaking Down Barriers, Collingwood Collective Racing, Collingwood Girls Hockey Association, Collingwood Music Festival, Fifth Street Creative Initiatives, Magic of Children in the Arts and Mobile Soup Kitchen.

In-kind grant recipients this year were the Beinn Gorm Highlanders, Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts, Collingwood Skating Club, Collingwood United Soccer Club, Environment Network, Fifth Street Creative Initiatives, Gaslight Theatre Association, Hospice Georgian Triangle, Living Better with Parkinson’s, the Living Wish Foundation, Theatre Georgian Bay and Viva Variety.

The purpose of the community recreation and culture grants is to assist Collingwood-based, not-for-profit, charitable, or volunteer-based organizations in supporting the community by providing opportunities for all persons to participate in arts, culture, recreation, sports, and health and well-being activities.

Organizations may submit one application per project for each type of grant. If seeking both an in-kind and financial grant for the same project, one combined application may be submitted. Grants can be spent on temporary supplies/equipment, marketing, volunteer training, entertainment, rental of venues/equipment, food/refreshments and professional service fees. Grants cannot be spent on capital projects, bricks and mortar, salaries for staff or day-to-day operational expenses.

This past February, council passed a new formalized policy to hand out community grants. There are two funding streams: community grants through council and the community recreation and culture grants, which are decided by town staff.

Double dipping is not permitted through the policy, as organizations that receive funding through the town’s community recreation and culture grant program are not eligible to apply for a council community grant.

For more information on Collingwood’s community recreation and culture grants, click here.