Seniors, soccer players and a young polo player were just some of the people who are a little richer this week thanks to Morinville’s town council.
Town council voted unanimously in favour of some $22,047.68 in grants and sponsorships last June 25 before a packed gallery of residents.
The cash came from the town’s sponsorship and community grant funds as well as the provincially backed Family and Community Support Services fund. Community grants are awarded quarterly, while FCSS ones are twice a year.
These votes took well over an hour to debate, as council once again struggled with its grant and sponsorship policies.
The Jessica Martel Memorial Foundation asked for a $2,230 grant for the first annual Jessica Martel Memorial Run/Walk, which took place June 23 during the St. Jean Baptiste Festival.
The event drew some 200 participants – far above the expected 100 – and raised some $20,000 to help victims of domestic violence.
Coun. Nicole Boutestein noted that this event technically made money and that the group was asking for far more than the $930 it had previously requested. “It is about dollars and cents,” she said, and council had a lot of grants to consider.
The foundation saw the $20,000 it raised as a donation rather than profit, said spokesperson Rebecca Holland, and expenses from the run were still pouring in. “This run was about education just as much as it was about raising funds.”
Coun. David Pattison said he had no problem supporting this group. “Alberta has one of the highest rates of domestic violence in Canada,” he said, and the province has struck a provincial panel on the issue. “This is a major problem in Alberta.”
Council agreed to give the group $1,500 at Boutestein and Pattison’s suggestion.
The Morinville Historical and Culture Society got $3,690 from the sponsorship fund to support its annual Canada Day festivities and fireworks show.
Society spokesperson Murray Knight had originally asked for a $1,190 sponsorship and a $2,500 grant, but Boutestein pointed out that the group could not, under the town’s current rules, get more than one community grant a year. (It had received one previously for the annual Easter egg hunt.) Council decided to turn the grant into a sponsorship instead.
The Morinville Day Support group asked for a $1,250 grant to give vulnerable seniors busing for day trips. Boutestein moved to make this a sponsorship instead after it became apparent that the group was ineligible for a grant.
Kayaker Kassandra Reaume, 13, got a $500 grant from council to compete in the 2013 Canada Canoe Polo Nationals in Welland, Ont. A member of the Edmonton Whitewater Paddlers and a student at Georges H. Primeau Middle School, she won several kayaking medals at the 2012 Alberta Summer Games and is a contender for U21 women’s national canoe polo team.
The Morinville Wolves senior girls basketball team got a $2,500 grant to take part in a sports camp in Spokane, Wash. The Morinville U18 soccer team got a $2,440 grant to go to provincials.
Council gave $4,167.68 to the Sturgeon Victim Services Association for volunteer recruitment and a $6,000 to the Rendez-Vous Club for seniors outreach as part of its FCSS grants.
Boutestein said council needed to review its grant policies, as they were a stumbling block to helping groups providing desperately needed services. “We’re essentially doing stuff that we’re saying we can’t do.”
Coun. Lisa Holmes expressed similar sentiments. “It feels like a lot of groups are being caught in the middle of our fiasco with grants.”
Council is set to review its grant policy at its August meeting.
