Powell River Community Forest will be providing more than $60,000 in grants to assist community organizations dealing with COVID-19.
At the City of Powell River Council meeting on April 29, councillors reviewed a request from the community forest to allocate seven grants in the community. These included:
· Powell River Food Bank – $10,000
· Powell River Salvation Army – $10,000
· Grace House (Transition House) – $10,000
· Friends of Powell River – $6,250, matching funds to 100-Plus Women Who Care grant
· Powell River Child, Youth and Family Services Society – $6,750
· City of Powell River – up to $15,000 to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE) for non-profit organizations that may have COVID-19 needs but limited financial capacity
· Lift Community Services – $2,067.62
Chief administrative officer Russell Brewer said a letter had been received from the community forest. He said the community forest has been reaching out to a number of organizations.
“What the community forest board has identified through those discussions are some short-term, immediate needs that organizations have that may not be met by some of the provincial programs or other funding agencies,” said Brewer. “As you’ll note from their recommendation, they are all related to food security, food distribution or for members of our community who are particularly challenged right now.”
Brewer said there was also a grant for the city for up to $15,000 to purchase PPE. He said there is a shortage of that equipment and the city is working to acquire it through the province. He said that’s not forthcoming as of yet but it is hoped that PPE can be procured and distributed to organizations that need it.
Brewer said the total ask was just over $60,000 from the community forest reserve fund and there is money to allow for quick turnaround and distribution to different organizations. He said the matter was for council’s consideration at that meeting to get money into the hands of the groups to be used immediately.
Mayor Dave Formosa said when the province starts to open up there will be a need for PPE beyond medical requirements.
“The way I’m hearing stuff about these soft openings, everyone is going to have to have one on an aircraft, if you go into a restaurant, all the servers in restaurants are going to have masks on,” said Formosa. “We’re going to have a bigger need for some of this stuff until the vaccine is created. If we can get our hands on PPE, we’re going to need it and the community is going to need it.”
Councillor Maggie Hathaway said she was glad to see the community forest allocations to worthy organizations. Fellow councillor Cindy Elliott said she loves to have the community forest and it does so well for the community.
Councillor George Doubt said it’s always a wonderful thing to see results of the community forest in its grant giving and the use of funds to leverage and get matching funds from other organizations to do good things in the community.
“They are doing this in a very quick and different way than they normally would,” said Doubt. “The community forest is definitely stepping up and doing things for the most vulnerable people, the people who have nowhere else to turn. I thank the community forest immensely.”
In his letter to the city, community forest president Greg Hemphill stated that these grants are very much focused on the short term (30 to 60 days) and intended to ensure recipient organizations have the resources to support folks in need.
