As the River Institute kicks off a year of 30th Anniversary celebrations, the organization is also working to build resiliency for the next 30 years with $35,650 from the Community Services Recovery Fund.
The Community Services Recovery Fund is a one-time $400 million investment from the Government of Canada to support community service organizations, including charities, non-profits and Indigenous governing bodies, as they adapt and modernize their organizations. The Government of Canada delivered the Community Services Recovery Fund through three National Funders – Canadian Red Cross, Community Foundations of Canada, and United Way Centraide Canada.
The funding is helping the River Institute modernize internal systems for tracking project activities and outcomes to increase resilience and improve efficiencies, as well as to better communicate these outcomes and impacts, including through new tools integrated into a refreshed River Institute website that will be made available this summer. “Community service organizations are at the heart of communities like Cornwall, creating a sense of belonging from coast to coast to coast. The Community Services Recovery Fund will enable organizations like the River Institute that serve our diverse communities to adapt and modernize their programs and services and to invest in the future of their organizations, staff and volunteers. Together, we can rebuild from the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic and build a more just and equitable future for those in Eastern Ontario,” said Jenna Sudds, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development
“The Community Services Recovery Fund is providing important support to the critical behind the scenes work that helps keep all of our projects up and running while ensuring high quality program delivery,” said River Institute Program Leader for Administration, Christina Collard. “We are grateful to the Government of Canada for this timely support for community service organizations, as well as to our national funder, the Community Foundations of Canada, for their work with the Community Services Recovery Fund and their continued efforts to strengthen community well-being in Eastern Ontario.”
The River Institute was established in 1994 as a unique community partnership involving the City of Cornwall, the Mohawks of Akwesasne, government, education, business, and industry. Its mandate is environmental research, outreach, and education, with a focus on the Great Lakes / St. Lawrence River ecosystem. For more information about the River Institute’s Education programs, including family workshops and summer camps, visit https://riverinstitute.ca.
