Shuswap Community Foundation (SCF) is excited to announce its semiannual 2024 Grant Program is giving over $120,000 to organizations that deliver much-needed support, programs and services to Shuswap residents.
Nineteen charities are accepting grants for projects ranging from inclusive youth projects, innovative arts initiatives, several community service projects, and support for the BC 55 Plus Games. The SCF grants committee was especially impressed with the applications aimed at tackling some of the region’s most pressing issues, and the incredible innovation and dedication to solving problems for people living in the Shuswap.
The Literacy Alliance of the Shuswap Society’s Summer Slide Reading Camp received a grant to continue its beloved literacy skills program for 2nd to 4th graders during summer break. This program helps kids discover their love of reading through fun exercises like building upon stories and completing arts & crafts based on what they read.
Another grant was for a heritage exhibition project by the Salmon Arm Museum and Heritage Association, Forcibly Uprooted: Japanese Canadians in the Shuswap, WWII. This exhibition centres on a relatively untold facet of Shuswap history while exploring themes including the policies leading to forced relocations, the discrimination and racism faced by Japanese Canadians, and instances of community solidarity and activism. The aim is to provide a comprehensive understanding of these past events and encourage reflection on their significance today.
To create broader access to unique learning experiences and creative workshops this grant will help to reduce the registration cost for the Shuswap Creative Makerspace Society’s – 2024 Youth Inclusion Program and will also support the cost to deliver the program. The Makerspace will host groups of students throughout the school year and over summer breaks and offer building and design projects like rubber band racing cars and birdhouses complemented by many other educational experiences.
Shuswap Family Centre (SFC) received a grant to support entrepreneurship among vulnerable youth through the Launch Entrepreneurship Project. This project fosters creativity, community connectedness, financial literacy, and independence among participating youth to ensure successful entrepreneurship and employment opportunities.
The Shuswap Community Foundation would like to extend a big THANK YOU to the local charities for their continuous community support. They help to build community within local neighbourhoods and warm the hearts of the people who live here.
This granting program is made possible thanks to 45 generous Donors who have earmarked all or a portion of their charitable funds’ granting dollars to support the SCF Grants Program, year after year.
April 2024 Grant Recipients:
- Federation of British Columbia Naturalists – Salmon Arm Wildlife Tracking Station
- Friday Night Music Society – 2024 Summer Concert Series
- Lakeview Community Centre – Kitchen Renewal
- Literacy Alliance of the Shuswap Society – Summer Slide Reading Camp 2024
- North Okanagan Minor Hockey Association – Novas Provincial Hockey Tournament
- North Okanagan-Shuswap School District No. 83 – The Bandwagon Technology Upgrade
- Salmon Arm 2024 55+ BC Games Society – SALMON ARM 2024 55+ BC GAMES
- Salmon Arm Museum and Heritage Association – Forcibly Uprooted: Japanese Canadians in the Shuswap, WWII
- Shuswap Association For Community Living – Equipment Storage
- Shuswap Association of Writers – Word on the Lake Writers’ Festival
- Shuswap Children’s Association – Friends & Leisure Youth (FLY) Recreation Program Spring 2024 Weekend Campout
- Shuswap Creative Makerspace Society – Youth Inclusion Program 2024
- Shuswap District Arts Council – Theatre on the Edge (TOTE) Festival
- Shuswap Family Resource and Referral Society – Launch Entrepreneurship Project
- Shuswap Music Festival – Shuswap Music Festival 2024
- Shuswap Theatre Society – Musical Youth Summer Theatre Program
- Sorrento Memorial Hall Association – Update of Safety Equipment & Purchase of Cutlery
- South Shuswap Chamber of Commerce – Morning Market Start-Up
- White Lake Residents Association – White Lake Turtle Festival
To learn how SCF works with donors to support charities in the Shuswap, please contact Roger Parenteau, Executive Director of the Shuswap Community Foundation, at 250-832-5428 or ed@shuswapfoundation.ca.