When teen singer/actress Selena Gomez visited Winnipeg, which charity did she adopt a pet from? Was it: D’Arcy’s A.R.C., The Winnipeg Humane Society or Winnipeg Pet Rescue?
Right now it’s just practice, but starting on April 16, 2012, your answer will earn points—and perhaps even a $910 award—for your favourite registered Winnipeg charity through Charity Pop Quiz.
The Quiz is intended to help us celebrate our 91st anniversary and help Winnipeg charities share some fun, quirky and little-known facts about themselves.
To play Charity Pop Quiz, visit The Winnipeg Foundation’s Facebook Page April 16 – 25, 2012 and click on the Quiz icon. We’ll post a new trivia question every day – 10 questions total. Every time you answer a trivia question correctly, you earn a point for your favourite registered Winnipeg charity.
The five charities with the most points at midnight April 25, 2012 will each receive $910. All the remaining charities that received at least one point during the Quiz will be entered into a draw (one entry per organization) for five additional $910 awards.
Even though the game is on our Facebook Page, you don’t need a Facebook account to play. However, if you do have a Facebook account, Like our Facebook Page to be among the first to hear updates and news about the Quiz.
As for the Winnipeg charity Selena Gomez adopted a pet from, it was D’Arcy’s A.R.C., though all the options would have been great places to adopt a pet. Last year, groups of high school students directed $1,000 grants to each of the three charities listed above after researching their work through our Youth in Philanthropy program.
Good luck as you play, and we hope everyone will learn something about the charities that serve our city.
The Winnipeg Foundation’s Grants Committee recently approved approximately $1.4 million in grants to more than 90 local charities. Each week this month we’ll highlight a new grant to support a Winnipeg project that you may not have heard about before.
When asked if there was anything others could do to help him in his role as the Volunteer Coordinator, Rick Caslake, Program Manager at the North Point Douglas Seniors Association, asked if anyone knew where he could find a 30-hour day.
Caslake was hired in May 2011 as a dedicated volunteer coordinator to recruit, and train senior volunteers to assist with community outreach at the Barber House 55+ Active Living Centre. The Seniors Association runs many programs out of Barber House, including Food-On-Wheels, coffee drop-ins, Aboriginal art classes, sewing and quilting time, movie nights, Brunch & Learns, an elder abuse research project, outdoor physical activities and more.
“We typically serve coffee, tea, juice, fruit and muffins. And, we usually solve all the world’s problems by mid-Wednesday, each week,” Caslake joked about the coffee drop-ins.
A piece of art made in the Aboriginal art class – more of a chance to socialize while creating art and share art supplies than an actual class, according to Caslake
Caslake related a story about a senior who takes part in the programs: “[He] was basically a shut-in as far as having a place to go every day. As soon as Barber House opened, he started coming over – and, if he couldn’t make it, he’d phone me, so I “wouldn’t worry”,” Caslake said.
Through their elder abuse research project, the Seniors Association provides a safe and confidential place to talk about abuse issues and possible solutions. Caslake explained they had recently intervened with one senior’s landlord to have her furnace repaired – the heat was off and the temperature in her home was below freezing.
Caslake was also recently involved in launching the S.W.E.E.P. program. S.W.E.E.P. or Seniors Waste Elimination Encouragement Program, adds a recycling component to the existing Food-On-Wheels program. Volunteer seniors fill reusable bins with food, and deliver them to recipient seniors in the community. The bins double as recycling containers for the recipients, who are often challenged by the physical effort needed to carry their recycling to the curb. The following week, when the volunteers make their next food delivery, they will pick up the bin (now full of recycling), sort through it, and properly dispose of its contents.
A volunteer helps pack the food that will be delivered to seniors in the community.
All joking aside, Caslake identified a number of areas others could help if they chose.
“Food is important – it’s the primary basic human need. When people don’t have enough of the right kinds of food to eat, their health suffers, and other social ills soon follow – isolation, fear, loneliness. We’re always on the lookout for fresh fruits and vegetables,” he said.
Caslake also expressed a need for seeds for their gardening program, a chipper or shredder for processing leaves, branches and compost and a passenger van to drive seniors to appointments, the grocery store, and to pick up and deliver food hampers.
The Winnipeg Foundation made two $15,000 grants, one in 2010 and one in 2012, to support the Volunteer Coordinator position—which Caslake currently holds—at the North Point Douglas Seniors Association. The recent grants were drawn from two endowment funds generously established at The Winnipeg Foundation to support programs for seniors.
The Winnipeg Foundation’s Grants Committee recently approved approximately $1.4 million in grants to more than 90 local charities. Each week this month we’ll highlight a new grant to support a Winnipeg project that you may not have heard about before.
Many low income individuals do not realize the need to file a tax return, and aren’t aware of the benefits they are entitled to. Others can’t file their own taxes, and can’t afford the fee charged by commercial tax preparation services.
In the 2010 tax year, CFCS estimated their Community Volunteer Income Tax Program resulted in $24 million in benefits that individuals would not otherwise have received.
Individuals wait their turn to meet with a volunteer and prepare their tax returns.
“I think the main impact on the community is not only income tax preparation, but truly effective poverty reduction,” said Diane Isaac, the Coordinator of Volunteers at the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program, Norquay Building and Service Canada Centres.
The benefits were a result of the hard work of 480 volunteers, preparing 30,580 tax returns for low income Manitobans. The Community Volunteer Income Tax Program is a partnership between CFCS and Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) that provides free income tax preparation for low income Manitobans.
A volunteer helps an individual prepare her taxes.
“Any Manitoba citizen can use the program if: as a single person he or she earns $30,000 or less; as a married couple they earn $35,000 or less; as a single parent he or she earns $35,000 or less. The limits for the last two are raised by $2,500 for each additional dependent,” said Isaac.
The volunteers work out of over 60 locations across Manitoba (including community centres, seniors centres, health centres and Manitoba Housing residences), including the Norquay Building. More than 120 agencies, organizations and community groups act as referral centres for the program.
“We are always looking for more volunteers who can commit to working weekdays for ten weeks. Comfort with numbers and basic computer literacy are assets and Canada Revenue Agency provides all training. Starting in October or November, prospective volunteers can register with CRA online at the CRA website,” said Isaac.
A long-time volunteer waits for the day to begin.
With the support of the Moffat Family Fund at The Winnipeg Foundation, a $12,500 grant was made to the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program.
The Winnipeg Foundation’s Grants Committee recently approved approximately $1.4 million in grants to more than 90 local charities. Each week this month we’ll highlight a new grant to support a Winnipeg project that you may not have heard about before.
Deciding to leave an abusive partner isn’t easy, and the matter is often further complicated by a reluctance to leave a pet behind.
“When you own a pet, they become part of your family,” said Susan Williams, the Animal Intake Manager at The Winnipeg Humane Society (WHS). She explained that individuals in abusive relationships don’t want to leave their pet behind because they’re afraid the abuse will transfer onto the animal.
“They want to make sure everything they love they take with them,” she said.
To help remove this barrier, The Winnipeg Humane Society created the SafePet Program. The WHS will provide temporary housing for pets of individuals leaving abusive partners. The program matches volunteer pet foster parents who register through The WHS with pets of abused individuals.
WHS Animal Intake Manager Susan Williams and Chief Executive Officer Bill McDonald.
“It gives them a sense of empowerment too that they’re doing something and also that they’ve helped something that they really love,” said Williams.
On behalf of the anonymous individual entering the shelter, crisis shelters arrange temporary pet foster parents through The WHS. The animal is returned to The WHS when the pet owner is once again able to take care of his or her pet, or the pre-determined timeframe has ended.
“Even if they can’t take their animal back, it gives them a chance to find someone who can,” Williams said.
The Winnipeg Foundation supported the SafePet Program with a $5,000 grant. To see other organizations and projects supported by the Foundation, visit the Recent Community Grants page.
The Winnipeg Foundation’s Grants Committee recently approved approximately $1.4 million in grants to more than 90 local charities. Each week this month we’ll highlight a new grant to support a Winnipeg project that you may not have heard about before.
The Horse Connection Inc. is one of the local charities that recently received a community grant. Horse Connection uses horseback riding to teach life skills and keep at-risk youth engaged and in school. We made a $15,000 grant to support board development and strategic planning to help the organization continue and thrive.
We visited Horse Connection to see the program in action and were impressed to see how comfortable the kids were with the horses after only a few lessons. The program strives to build self-confidence and develop responsibility in young people while teaching them to respect, handle and ride horses.
A participant saddles his horse under the careful supervision of Horse Connection staff.
Participants practice leading and standing with the horses.
A participant rides proudly after grooming and saddling his horse.
The participants gain riding skills as they complete the exercises.
A participant stands with Winnipeg Foundation Community Grants Coordinator, Marie Bouchard and Horse Connection Executive Director, Wendy MacDonald.
To see more pictures from our visit, go to our Facebook Page.
The Winnipeg Foundation
1350 - One Lombard Place
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 0X3 Canada
ph: (204) 944-9474 | fx: (204) 942-2987
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