Morden Area Fdn. hands out $86K in grants

The Morden Area Foundation capped off another successful year with the presentation of grants last Wednesday at the Morden Legion.

The event saw the foundation hand out over $86,000 in total to 10 recipients, along with one special matching challenge grant.

It means the foundation in the past year has given back a total of about $311,000—something grants committee chairperson Yvonne Stoesz said was definitely cause for celebration.

“We have over $7 million [in endowment funds], and the interest from that we are able to grant out,” she explained. “It’s absolutely the best part about being on the board.

“I also enjoy when people submit their grants. They do a 15-minute interview with the board and the granting committee, so we get to hear the passion that people have for Morden, for children, for newcomers,” Stoesz added. “It shows the diversity of Morden and the generosity of Morden. I am inspired.”

The evening included the announcement of a new scholarship fund:  the Tio and Leanne Bellisario Excellence in Science Scholarship Fund. As well, through the William and Colleen Lyne family, four new funds were established in support of the Prairie Crossroads School, Pembina Valley Child Care Centres, Morden Caring and Sharing school meals program, and the Alzheimer Society of Manitoba.

There was also a new fund announced in connection to St. Thomas Anglican Church in Morden, which is celebrating its 140th anniversary this year.

Cheryl Digby shared briefly about the Clark Elder Fund established in honour of her son. She recalled him being inspired at a young age by a coach, so they want to enable others to be able to experience and gain from sports in his memory.

“Sports weren’t just a passion for him,” she said. “Clark knew that on the field, everyone has a place.”

A number of new grants were also presented:

• École Discovery Trails School: $25,000 for a play structure.

“The big thing with this play structure is it’s not just for the school, it’s also for the community,” said parent advisory council representative Mike Lawson, who noted it overall is about a $400,000 project.

• Menzies Medical Centre community board: $15,000 in support of a return of service physician recruitment initiative that will have beneficiaries commit to serving here for a few years.

“Thank you very much for trusting us with the work that we are trying to do,” said executive director Nicole Walske.

• Morden Curling Club: $10,000 for an accessible washroom as well as an accessible entry.

• Regional Connections: $10,000 for leasehold improvements for its new building project in Morden.

• Pembina Valley Child Care Centres hive site in Morden: $7,000 for nature playground fencing.

• Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre: $6,800 for the acquisition of a robotic station.

• Morden Family Resource Centre: $5,200 for four parent and child six-week pre-school programs.

• Morden History and Archives: $3,100 for the preservation of historical Morden photographs.

• Morden Activity Centre: $2,137.11 for an automated external defibrillator. 

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Pembina Valley: $1,800 for its after school mentoring program.

In addition, there was $18,000 in matching funds presented to the Morden Police and Morden Fire departments in connection to their fundraising campaign for upgrades at the outdoor skating rink. 

Stoesz said the foundation aims to support a wide range of organizations and projects in the community, though she suggested they have “been more intentional to hit some of those wellness indicators, like education, health, food security … we have been more deliberate.”

She said they are also “being more intentional to actually ask the community what are the needs, so not only people who come to us with applications.

“What are the needs we are seeing? Maybe they’re not applying? Maybe they don’t know about the foundation? How can we meet the needs of Morden and areas that are maybe missed or fall through the cracks?”