The Prince Albert and Area Community Foundation celebrated 20 years in the community Thursday. (Brady Bateman/paNOW Staff)

By Brady Bateman

Community Foundation Funds

Community Foundation celebrates 20 years, awards funding

Jun 7, 2019 | 10:34 AM

The Prince Albert and Area Community Foundation (PAACF) noted a major milestone Thursday, as the organization celebrated 20 years of operations within P.A.

The anniversary event celebrated both the longevity of the foundation in the community, and also served as an opportunity to announce those organizations which would receive funding in 2019.

Executive Director for the foundation, Marilyn Peterson, said she has been a part of the foundation for 19 years and saw many changes in those years.

“When we first started granting in 2002, we gave out a total of $4,000 in total grants, this year we’re giving $104,000 so that is a huge difference,” Peterson said.

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“That alone is huge. Plus, the number of funds that have been established is terrific, in our first year we only had one or two funds. Now I think the number is eight funds and three scholarships, so that too is just terrific.”

Peterson noted it took time for the foundation to earn the trust of the community, but said they’re happy about it.

“People should come to us first when they are setting up a legacy of some kind, or groups are investing some funds. We have the proven track record, and we can work with people very well on what kind of contracts they want and how they want money dispersed,” Peterson added.

“At the other end, we do need people joining us and working with us to establish funds etcetera.”

Peterson noted the foundation is unveiling two new funds in the coming year.

Following the 20-year anniversary celebrations, the organizations to receive funds in 2019 were announced.

“We were a successful recipient to be given funding for our program After the Storm, which is a domestic violence program for women, and focuses on helping women getting out of domestic violence situations and improving their lives,” Louise Zurowski, executive director for Catholic Family Services, said

“This isn’t the first time we’ve received money; we’ve received money not every year but almost every year for a number of our programs. We’ve been very fortunate, and the Community Foundation means a lot to us, without them we wouldn’t be able to run a number of our programs. If we didn’t have this funding we would have to charge a registration fee to cover our costs, and those costs would be too extreme for the people who need them the most.”

A total of 22 applications were received for the 2019 funding year, with $357, 300 in funding being requested. A total of 17 applications granted from Moffat funding ($90, 937), and one application granted through United Way funding ($13, 994).

The total amount of funds granted for projects and events in 2019 was $104, 931. More than $9,000 in scholarships were also awarded in 2019.

Since 2002 a total of 117 organizations and groups have been funded through the PAACF, with a total of 233 projects receiving funding. A total of $1, 268, 561 was granted through the foundation.

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Brady.bateman@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TheDigitalBirdy