What's Going On? Money Matters

The fact of the matter about money is that money matters.  It is not the most important thing and it needs to be kept in it’s place, but money matters.

At the congregational meeting we passed the budget for next year.  We are presently in the midst of unfortunate annual plea for the funds to meet the present budget year.  Meanwhile we can celebrate the money that has come in for the refugee sponsorship, and the three big mission trips this year (DIG, Serve, and Cadet Camporee).

What I want to focus on in this blog is the grant-funding that we have received lately.  Each year we apply for Canada Student Jobs funding for our Summer Kids Camp.  And this year again we received an incredible grant that gives us access to up to $125,000.  This money helps us hire students and provide a camp experience for kids who require extra support.

Another grant we have received a couple times is the Niagara Community Foundation Grant.  We received $1500 last year and $2000 this year.  The money was used for the Tuesday Food Program to purchase kitchen equipment and a barbeque last year.  This year the money went to the purchase of two Fridge/Freezers.  These units can be used as either a fridge or a freezer and they allow us to buy in bulk which is more cost effective.

We also applied for and received the Ontario Hate-Crime Prevention Security Grant.  Here we received $10,000 which is being used to upgrade outside lighting, add security cameras and update/upgrade our building security alarm system.

Finally, we have applied for an EASE grant which is about helping increase accessibility.  We have requested $60,000 which will be used to replace all the doors at the two front entrances and add automatic door openers for the universal bathrooms and the rear entrance.

We like to think that we are helping our government spend money on things that allow us to do even more good work in our community.  We celebrate that there are grants available that align with our mission and that we are able to access some of them.

Pastor Erick Schuringa