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Rotary Highlands seek your votes on grant initiative

March 18, 2021   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart 

The Rotary Club of Orangeville Highlands is asking residents to help them decide who will be the recipients of one of its five, $1,000 Rotary Community Choice Grants.

In February, the Club asked residents to submit nominations for deserving groups in the area.

“We know there are a lot of smaller non-profit groups out there who could really benefit from getting a grant,” explained Michel Fisher, chair of the Rotary Service Committee. “We’re going to put it out to the community to nominate who they would like to see short-listed for the grants. Then once the short list is generated, we’re going to put it back out to the community to vote.”

This is the first year the Club has tried this approach.

The Club contacted the non-profit groups to let them know they had been nominated. Groups had to explain how they serve the public, why they need the money, and at the same time, their type of service must fit within the Rotary’s area of focus. 

Close to 30 local charities and non-profit groups applied for the grants and successfully passed the eligibility review. All organizations had been nominated by the community through social media and the Rotary’s website.

“We were blown away by the community’s response,” Ms. Fisher said. “At Rotary, we keep our ears pretty close to the ground in terms of good works happening in our community. Through the nominations we learned about a lot of services operating below-the-radar that are providing critical help to people in our town.”

Public voting commenced on March 17, and will continue to March 24.

The list of eligible non-profits has been posted on the Rotary’s website.

The public is invited to vote for up to three choices. The three organizations that get the most votes will automatically receive a $1,000 grant.

The Rotary Grants Committee will choose the final two recipients with a view to helping smaller non-profits that are less well known.

“Our local non-profits have been doing an incredible job of serving the community throughout the pandemic, all while struggling financially themselves,” Ms. Fisher said. “We hope that these grants help at a time when they need them the most.” 

You can view the nominees by visiting the Rotary website at www.rcoh.ca.

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