Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Staff
Community Foundation for Lennox and Addington (CFL&A) executive Tom Derrick spoke to Greater Napanee council on Tuesday, informing them how they would be divvying out $10,000 worth of grants on behalf of the town.
This marked the first year the CFL&A had been entrusted with handing out the grants for the town.
Last year council had voted to hand the responsibilities over the local group, citing they’d have more time and resources to research grant proposals. Meanwhile the CFL&A would benefit from the extra exposure in the community.
Of the $10,000 at their disposal, $5,500 was given to Morningstar Mission to assist with their estimated $72,500 cost of installing toilets and shower facilities on their main floor. Habitat for Humanity was granted $3,500 to assist with the payment of municipal development fees for a build at 182 Roblin Road, while $500 each was given to St. Alban’s Anglican Church and the United Empire Loyalist Heritage Centre and Park to assist with costs relating to property maintenance.
Looking ahead to 2018, the foundation will once again be tasked with dividing $10,000 among their grant applications.
As part of his presentation, Derrick proposed the idea of establishing a fund that would generate interest for future grants.
“Use of taxpayer money is always a concern,” said Derrick. “We’re suggesting that you allow us to put $5,000 of that money into a Town of Napanee endowment fund and use the remaining $5,000 for actual grants this year…we’ve had very good returns on our past investments. I couldn’t believe the investment returns.”
Councillor Max Kaiser supported the idea, but put forth a motion to set $2,500 for the endowment fund and using the remaining $7,500 for grants over the next year. His motion was carried.