Duane Hicks
The Town of Fort Frances will be receiving $55,000 from the Moffat Family Fund this year to redistribute to local worthwhile causes, and is urging groups to submit applications to get a share of the pot.
Applications for 2017 are available at the Civic Centre and online at fort-frances.com/town/administration-finance/moffat-family-fund
Applications can be submitted as early as this Friday (Feb. 24) but the submission deadline is 4 p.m. on March 23.
These can be delivered in person or mailed.
Deputy clerk Kathy Lawson said the town is trying to make the application process less complex.
“We’ve got a downloadable form so that they can [fill it out] and then just print it with the things that we require,” she noted.
“And we’re asking that it be brought to us, not faxed to us,” she added.
Lawson also advised applicants to keep it simple.
“We were finding in the past we were getting 10 and 20 pages,” she noted, adding the review committee generally doesn’t go past the fifth page when looking at the applications.
“Make your case on the first page–that’s what they’ll be looking for,” Lawson suggested.
All applications must be a registered charity and have a charitable number, or be affiliated with a group that has one.
If they do not, their application won’t be considered.
Organizations from outside Fort Frances, whose activities do not have a direct benefit to town residents, also are not eligible.
As in previous years, non-profit organizations are welcome to apply but must keep in mind that funding proposals must benefit children, families, and the “less advantaged.”
“We really encourage people to come forward–you know, the smaller groups that are looking for funding to keep their groups going,” Lawson said.
She also noted past applicants are welcome to apply again.
“Because your ongoing needs may go from year to year, we encourage everyone to continue to apply,” she explained.
After the March 23 deadline, the local Moffat Fund committee, which is an advisory committee to council, will review the applications, choose recipients, and forward those selections on to the Winnipeg Foundation for approval.
The Foundation will make its final approvals by late May or early June.
Successful applicants then will be contacted and likely will receive their share of the $55,000 during a council meeting in July.
The town has benefitted from the Moffat Family Fund for 15 years.
Back in December, 2001, the Moffat family entrusted $100 million to the Winnipeg Foundation, which, in turn, is responsible for investing the money and distributing it to communities in need.
In 2002, Fort Frances applied for–and was chosen to be–one of these recipient communities.
That first year, the town was allocated $33,000 to divvy up.
Year after year, the town (along with other communities once served by the Moffat family’s cable television business) is eligible to receive some of the interest from that $100-million investment, with the amount varying somewhat from year to year.
Last year, for instance, 12 local causes received shares of $51,021.37.
