WESTLOCK — Westlock County councillors passed a motion at their Nov. 28 meeting to award eight grants totaling $33,000 to local organizations through the municipality’s Community Grant Program.
Community services co-ordinator Adrienne Finnegan told councillors that the Community Grant Advisory Committee (CGAC) had met on Nov. 14 to review the applications that had been submitted to the grant program.
It is worth noting that the deadline for this program had been extended from Sept. 29 to Oct. 27 to allow for more applications to roll in.
More than 20 applications were received, which represented a total of $61,990 in requested funding.
Finnegan noted a couple of the applicants were ineligible as they had previously received funding in 2023.
Ultimately, CGAC recommended that council approve eight of the applications. Four of them were for $5,000 in operating funding from the Gladwin Community Association, the Pembina Heights Community League, PACO (the Fawcett Ag Society), and the Linaria and District Agricultural Society.
Finnegan noted these grants would be used to help community groups cover expenses like utility bills.
The committee also recommended approving two requests from PACO and the Vimy Lions Club for $5,000 in capital funding, along with a third $2,500 request for a project by the Pembina Heights Community League. These were all related to upgrades to each group's halls and facilities.
The Vimy Lions also asked for $500 to put on a community event, which the committee signed off on.
Finnegan said they had also received two requests from the Jarvie Community Council and Busby Community League to retain a small amount of unspent funding — under $400 — rather than return it. The CGAC had approved those requests.
Reeve Christine Wiese commented on how awesome it was that the county went from receiving barely any applications by the earlier deadline to accumulating more than 20.
"I think this shows that we definitely have a need. There’s been a lot of provincial downloading, and I think it’s great that we can help out our organizations in the area,” she said.
Back in March, council had approved a new community grants policy, which would govern how the county would dole out more than $100,000 in funds.
Ultimately, the program is aimed at supporting volunteer agencies and local service groups with projects that enhance community growth.
