Applying for a grant has been on my unwritten bucket list
ever since my first job in Banff working for the non-profit, The Friends of
Banff National Park. My boss, Leslie, became a mentor for me. Her passion for
the outdoors, her ambition for sharing her love for the environment, and her
penchant for doing the right thing was an inspiration and definitely led me
down the path I am on today.
Leslie applied for grants to award funding to the Friends of
Banff, and without her dedication, this organization would be very different,
or even non-existent today.
When the projects for this course were unveiled, I was
excited to have an applied learning opportunity.
Providing a worthy non-profit with funds was a chance to
make a difference in a community. Fortunately my group had a perfect recipient,
The Environmental Youth Alliance (EYA) in Vancouver. The work this organization
is contributing to the City of Vancouver is amazing. Creating community
gardens, working with inner city youth, and youth at risk, and teaching them
how to grow and harvest their own food is one of those life skills that is
slowly becoming scarce.
The Pollinator’s Paradise program is one of the EYA’s newer
initiatives. Providing habitat and accessibility for pollinators was a topic I
wasn’t too familiar with, but after a little research and information from the
organization, I too became passionate about pollinators. I think the rest of my
group felt the same way.
We ended up applying for a grant through a partnership
between the Vancouver Foundation and the City of Vancouver through the Greenest
City Fund. I sincerely hope the EYA receives this money as they have some
phenomenal work that would positively affect and connect communities in
Vancouver. I definitely wish the City of Calgary would team up with a funder to
offer the same opportunities to organizations here.
I think the value non-profits bring to cities can really
bring a community closer together and establish relationships between groups of
people and their surroundings and create meaningful work.
The applicability of this project was the best part of this
course!
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