Non-profit organizations in Parksville will be able to apply for financial help from city council.
Council unanimously voted Feb. 17 in favour of establishing a one-time, $280,000 COVID Relief Grant-in-Aid program for non-profit groups located in Parksville, or that serve Parksville residents.
The motion, brought forth by Mayor Ed Mayne, stated groups will be allowed to apply to council for reimbursement of COVID-related expenses incurred since March 2020. The grant is to cover the costs incurred by obtaining Personal Protective Equipment, to maintain enhanced cleaning and sanitization, to adapt programming or services during the pandemic, and for any other COVID-related losses in regular revenue due to the inability to hold annual and ongoing fundraising events.
Wages and utility costs are not eligible, read the motion, as these costs have already been offset by senior government programs.
Applicants for the COVID Relief Grant-in-Aid will be required to follow the same submission requirements as the regular Grant-in-Aid program.
“One of the things that has always been above and beyond in the City of Parksville is the roles of our non-profit volunteers. They make our community. They’ve done it for years. We’re known to have the best volunteers around. And this is a direct result of the hard and endless hours that they all put in social, cultural and community support services,” said Mayne.