Workers from the Quesnel Child and Youth Support Society prepare Christmas hampers in 2019. The society was one of seven recipients of funding in the first round of the Emergency Community Support Fund. The Quesnel Community Foundation is now accepting donations for the second round of funding and is urging local groups to apply before Oct. 30. (Facebook)

Workers from the Quesnel Child and Youth Support Society prepare Christmas hampers in 2019. The society was one of seven recipients of funding in the first round of the Emergency Community Support Fund. The Quesnel Community Foundation is now accepting donations for the second round of funding and is urging local groups to apply before Oct. 30. (Facebook)

Quesnel Community Foundation urges area groups to apply for COVID-19 relief funding

The deadline to apply for Round 2 of the Emergency Community Support Fund is Oct. 30

  • Oct. 19, 2020 12:00 a.m.

As the deadline to apply for the Emergency Community Support Fund (ECSF) looms, the Quesnel Community Foundation is urging local groups to put their names in the hat.

Applications for the second round of the ECSF opened Oct. 5, and as of Monday, Oct. 19, the Quesnel Community Foundation (QCF) has not received any applications. The deadline to apply is coming up Oct. 30, and the QCF says Quesnel and area will lose out on this funding if there are no applications.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has been an unpredictable and challenging time for many, with some communities experiencing higher levels of vulnerability than others,” according to the QCF website. “Marginalized groups, youth, children and the elderly, essential workers and newcomers are just some of the communities that have faced increased challenges. To provide emergency relief, the Government of Canada launched the Emergency Community Support Fund (ECSF) to help support communities made increasingly vulnerable by the pandemic.”

This second round of funding provides much-needed assistance to charities and non-profit organizations serving communities experiencing vulnerability. The Government of Canada is flowing this funding through Community Foundations of Canada (CFC), United Way Centraide Canada and the Canadian Red Cross, and the QCF is working with CFC and the federal government to deliver funding locally to ensure our citizens are safe and healthy.

“Through the ECSF, we will be investing an additional $30,000 towards local charities and qualified donees supporting people experiencing heightened vulnerability,” according to the QCF.

Registered charities and other qualified donees can apply through community foundations for projects that:

• Address a well-being need caused by COVID-19

• Serve a group experiencing heightened vulnerability, such as newcomers, refugees, women and girls, official language minority communities, LGBTQ2 people, Indigenous people and racialized people such as Black Canadian, Chinese and South Asian and others

• Will be completed before March 31, 2021

Organizations who submitted applications in the first round are welcome to re-apply.

Local groups can apply online at communityfoundations.ca/initiatives/emergency-community-support-fund.

Decisions will be made the beginning of November, and funding will be awarded through CFC.

In the first round of ECSF, the Quesnel Community Foundation awarded $40,000 in total funding to the Quesnel Women’s Resource Centre, the North Cariboo Seniors Council, the BC SPCA Quesnel Branch, the North Cariboo Aboriginal Family Program, Hope Air, Roots of Empathy, and the Quesnel Child and Youth Support Society.

READ MORE: Quesnel Community Foundation awards $40,000 in COVID-19 relief


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Quesnel Cariboo Observer