The Town of Blue Mountains (TBM) residents recently showcased their love of community, raising nearly $50,000 to be put towards community programs.
“Last year, we looked at all grants and donations and the amount of asks coming out of the community couldn’t really be matched by taxation,” said Peter Bordignon, town councillor and chair of the grants and donations committee. “So, we started taking a more wholesome look at it, saying what can we do to help the community without hitting the tax base? I have had experience with galas in the past and we thought that it might be possible to raise some funds that way.”
The ‘We love Blue Gala’ was held on Valentine’s Day at the Blue Mountains Village Conference Centre and included a dinner, dancing, and raffles, as well as live and silent auctions.
“It was a good event and it was really embraced by staff and the public and I was really happy with how much we raised and how quickly it came together. The caring and philanthropy in this community never ceases to amaze me,” said Bordignon.
According to the TBM finance department, proceeds raised at the event totalled $47,781. These funds will go directly to the TBM grants and donations program, which dispenses funds to community groups and organizations across the municipality.
“One-hundred per cent of the funds will go back to the community. Nothing goes into a reserve, and nothing is taken for administration,” Bordignon said.
Applications for the program close on Feb. 29, at which point the committee will review and bring its recommendations to council for consideration on April 3.
According to the TBM finance department, in 2019 the grants and donations program dispensed $59,420 to community groups through both financial contributions and subsidies.
“Hard money going out in 2019 was under $40,000. So, we will actually be able to give out more this year in hard dollars and we will continue to look at the subsidies as well,” said Bordignon. “I am hopeful that we will be able to achieve a lot of the goals that come in through the application process.”
This was the first time an event like this was held in support of this program and Bordignon said it was well-received by the community.
“The groups that will benefit from this are fundamental grassroots community organizations that need money to operate, so once the community got behind that, it really came together very quickly. Within a month we hit our sponsorship level and a fair number of ticket sales,” he said.
Moving forward, Bordignon says it is likely that the gala will become an annual event, however, he would like to see the leadership be moved to a community foundation.
“My thought process is to move into a community foundation, at arm's length from council and a separate corporation with its own charity status with a federal tax ID number. That would be what I am going to ask the finance department to investigate,” Bordignon said. “I really think this should be a public-driven initiative, more than a council-driven initiative. However, we will certainly continue with our fundraising efforts because the need is not going away.”
Anyone interested in contributing to the grants and donations program, can contact the TBM financial department. For those interested in discussing thoughts and ideas for future fundraising efforts, please contact the Grants and Donations Program Chair, Peter Bordignon.
