The Salt Spring Island Foundation is pleased to announce over $108,000 in fall Foundation grants for island charities. The 2019 fall grants support many essential programs and services, with a particular focus on children and youth, health and wellness, and capacity building for local non-profit organizations. The Foundation thanks the many generous donors who make these grants possible.  

BC SPCA, Salt Spring Island

$5,000 for the “Snip for Dogs” program, to provide spaying and neutering for dogs owned by low-income households and individuals without housing.

Big Brothers Big Sisters

$1,500 to provide supplies for 15 students for one year for the In-School Mentoring program. This grant is supported by funds from the Unger Family Fund for Children and their Mothers and Senior Women in Need.

Capital Regional District (CRD)

• Salt Spring Island Electoral Area Emergency Program: $6,000 for an on-island, two-day Justice Institute of BC-certified course, on the subject of Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Essentials, for 24 first responders.
• PARC: $5,685 for a Community Event Coordinator for the Earth Day event, two film evenings and the Lantern Festival.

Fulford Harbour Childcare Society (TreeFrog Daycare)

$1,500 for a raised garden bed that will support the instruction of many important early learning concepts while children experience gardening and growing food.

Greenwoods Eldercare Society

$10,000 toward an IT infrastructure upgrade project to enhance the use of electronic information for resident care planning and record-keeping, communication with families, and core business systems such as shared calendars and HR scheduling. The upgrade will also enable accreditation and telehealth capability.     

Gulf Islands Early Learning Society

$10,000 toward replacing the aging roof of the Salt Spring Early Learning Centre.

I-SEA (Institute for Sustainability Education and Action) Youth

$2,500 for a local version of a Canada-wide initiative, My Clothes My World—Fashion Takes Action, consisting of six sessions examining the environmental impact of clothing. 

Island Pathways

$7,200 for the Trees for Pathways and Schools 2020 project, which will result in the planting of 40 trees on the Kanaka Pathways and Salt Spring Island Elementary School grounds. This grant is supported by the Jacqueline Booth Memorial Fund.

Salt Spring Farmers’ Heritage Foundation

$5,000 for building supplies for an extension to an existing shed that protects antique farm equipment.

Salt Spring Film Festival Society

$2,500 for speakers, sound boards and cables to upgrade the Film Festival sound system.

Salt Spring Forum

$1,000 for sound equipment and set-up for the Youth Speaker Series.

Salt Spring Island Community Services

$6,240 for an internet upgrade to support current and emerging program requirements, remediate the present weak site connectivity and provide the capacity to improve security systems.

Salt Spring Island Public Library

$8,762 to support the Indigenous Mural Project, a large outdoor map depicting First Nations communities on Salt Spring. The project highlights Indigenous culture and peoples, with young artists from local First Nations participating in the creation of the mural on the outside of the library building.

School District #64

• Fulford School: $6,500 to install a catchment system and solar-powered water pump for rainwater harvesting for community garden.
• Salt Spring Middle School: $1,800 to purchase a lighting board and dimmer for school stage lighting and install DMX or audio wiring.
• Salt Spring Elementary and Fernwood Elementary Schools: $4,000 to purchase three risers to share between the schools for the music program. This grant is supported by funds from the Unger Family Fund for Children and their Mothers and Senior Women in Need.
• GISS Robotics Team: $4,717 to purchase additional equipment to enable competition and to provide funds both to observe and enter competition.
• GISS: $1,000 for a stipend to a health educator for Grades 10 and 12 sexual health education.
• Salt Spring Middle School PAC: $16,000 to purchase five carts of student Chromebooks with a long-term view of adopting a healthier use of technology, including minimizing the off-task use of electronic devices.

Special Olympics BC

$1,244 for uniforms for the Salt Spring Island Special Olympics team, including shorts, swimsuits and jackets.

Does your Salt Spring charity have a great project that needs funds? The Foundation has helped over 85 charities in the past 35 years, granting more than $3.3 million to our community. If you’d like to know how we can help you, please go to our website at ssifoundation.ca, or call 250-537-8305.