Groups boosted by Moffat Fund

For the sixth-straight year, the town has received money from the Moffat Family Fund to dispense to local groups and service clubs aimed at helping youths and families.
Monday night, a total of $54,000 in Moffat Foundation grant awards were presented to 10 successful applicants.
The Salvation Army received $11,100 for its Responsible Parents Breakfast Program—a new program aimed at providing extra food for needy families at breakfast time.
Capt. Angel Sandoval explained the program will launch in September to coincide with the new school year, and is specifically focused on breakfast for children.
While Robert Moore School, for instance, already has a breakfast program for students, Capt. Sandoval noted this one is intended to enable parents to provide breakfast for their children at home, instead of relying on the school to provide it before class.
“Sometimes, the parents, they feel shame and want to do it for themselves,” he added. “It’s good because the parents become more responsible for the little ones.”
Unlike the food bank, parents will be given vouchers or use a similar system to go out and buy their own breakfast foods for their children.
Capt. Sandoval said he’s still working on devising a system with local retailers to ensure the parents, in fact, buy breakfast food, not cigarettes or other items clearly not for kids.
Based on the numbers of people who received aid from the Salvation Army last year, Capt. Sandoval said he’s expecting upwards of 350 children to benefit from the new breakfast program.
But he stressed the Moffat Fund grant strictly is for the breakfast program, meaning other Salvation Army programs still need continued support from the community
An appeal will be mailed out to local residents this coming Monday to make donations to the local Salvation Army.
Meanwhile, the Fort Frances Lions Club got $10,000 to help pay for a walkway for handicapped children, seniors, and the general public to enable them to reach the washroom facility at the Lions Park independently, as well as enjoy the fountain and all other facilities there.
The United Native Friendship Centre received $8,000 for a music program for children and their families, through which they aim to increase self-esteem development and enhance creativity and promote music, teamwork, motor skills development, and vocal skills development.
The Northwestern Health Unit received $4,000 for its car seat donor program, which provides access to safe car seats and booster seats to all families in Rainy River district through a referral program.
The project relies on grants and donations to purchase the car seats and booster seats.
The Fort Frances Curling Club received $3,000 for promotion of its L’il Rockers junior and Bantam curling programs.
For its part, the Fort Frances Museum got $4,400 to buy backpacks containing materials designed for students and families to interact with museum exhibits and encourage experiences beyond the museum walls into the community.
The Fort Frances Aquanauts got $5,000 to purchase instructional training materials for coaches, including DVDs and reference books, and training equipment for coaching, including flutter boards, kick fins, floatation devices, and video equipment.
The 908 Rainy Lake Air Cadet Squadron got $2,500 to put towards various activities while the Fort Frances Highlanders received $3,000 to purchase loaner bagpipes for student bagpipers.
And the Women’s Health Symposium 2008 got $3,000 to help pay for its annual one-day symposium for women to build health awareness, promote prevention, and encourage personal development.
This took place in May.
A total of 15 groups put in requests for a total of $95,753.05 in funding this year.
The selection committee consisted of deputy mayor Sharon Tibbs, Coun. Andrew Hallikas, Fort Frances CAO Mark McCaig, Capt. Angel Sandoval, Linda Hamilton, and Marie Howells.