John Boyd announced the awards made to the following recipients.
- Association for the Rehabilitation of the Brain Injured - $18,000. Executive Director Luanne Whitmarsh accepted our donation that will fund necessary updates to ARBI’s information infrastructure. ARBI is a pioneer in community brain injury rehabilitation that strives to give survivors a second chance at life. Luanne thanked our club for our ongoing support of ARBI over the years.
- NSTEP - $27,000. Deb Hymers accepted our Major Donations committee donation of $15,000 for a new English as a Second Language program for children. An additional award of $12,000 from our COVID-19 relief fund will allow NSTEP to continue educating and motivating children to eat better, walk more and live longer. Current NSTEP initiatives include developing a nutrition poster in the Punjabi language and working with Calgary Reads, Brown Bagging for Calgary Kids, and I Can for Kids to provide nutritious food to families at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- I Can for Kids - $36,000. Executive Director Bobbi Turko accepted our donation of $24,000 with an additional award of $12,000 from our COVID-19 relief fund. She introduced Sutton Garner, who founded I Can for Kids when she was just 11 years old and was inspired to help feed hungry kids in Calgary. Sutton Garner described how, with the help of the community, IC4K had distributed 5,000 fifty-dollar gift cards since April 8th.
- Distress Centre - $30,000. Director of Operations Robyn Romano thanked the club for our major donation of $16,000 to be put towards a new server room, with an additional award of $14,000 from our COVID-19 relief fund to handle the extra workload arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. Because the Distress Centre updated its technology platforms at the start of the year, its staff was able to switch to working from home at the start of the pandemic without interruption. Our club was instrumental in ensuring the continuity of its operations.
- Calgary Reads - $27,000. CEO Steacy Collyer accepted $15,000 from the Major Donation committee and $12,000 from our COVID-19 relief fund for Calgary Reads. She described how our support helped Calgary Reads distribute book bags to more than one thousand families. Our donation also supported efforts to put the training materials for new Calgary Reads volunteers online.
- Potential Place - $20,000. Potential Place is a Clubhouse International accredited organization dedicated to maintaining a community for individuals with mental illness through participation, personal development, and individual empowerment. Jordan Fazio and Frank Kelton of Potential Place described how our donation would allow the completion of necessary repairs to one of its buildings.
- Discovery House - $25,000. Kate Price described how Discovery House provides a continuum of care to women and their children fleeing domestic violence. It facilitates transitional housing and offers long-term safe places for women and children to call home while they begin rebuilding their lives. Discovery House provides access to counselling programs to ensure they never return to abusive partners. Our donation will develop the Harvest Table meeting room, an innovative space for hope and healing.
- Deaf and Hear Alberta - $20,000. Engagement and Resource Development Manager Danielle Smith described how our donation would support the replacement of an old elevator system in their Calgary office. Deaf and Hear Alberta works to create a world free of communication barriers for the deaf and hard of hearing. Believing that communication is a fundamental human right, Deaf and Hear Alberta delivers services and technology to advance access and opportunity.