A letter was received by the Community Foundation of Portage and District this past May informing the organization that Heather Carmichael made them one of her beneficiaries. Executive Director Kimberly Lavallee says it's a significant amount of money.

"So far, we've received $250,000, which means that $12,500 will come out of our General Endowment fund into granting. So, that's a significant amount for next year. As you know, we receive grant applications every year and the grant committee will determine where that $12,500 goes." 

She explains examples of where grant money has been provided including the Holiday Ave. Project, every school playground in Portage la Prairie and area, Oakville Community Club, Koko Platz Community Club, the Métis Prairie Steppers, and more.

Lavallee outlines the procedure for applying.

"Actually, it's a good time because the Grants Committee and the Board have just reestablished our granting priorities. Those are based on the challenges that were identified in the 2023 Community Assessment that we did. Certainly, seven challenges were identified. They include most of the social issues such as poverty, crime, mental health, and addictions. There are also many projects that we receive that touch on those criteria, but not limited to those. Some of those will be the priority for moving forward."

She notes they just placed a new grant application on their website that outlines some of those things. 

"This year, we're asking anyone interested in applying for a grant to contact our office because we're going to be doing information sessions for anyone interested. Sometimes, we get applications where people don't qualify, and this way, it alleviates a lot of time and effort for the applicant as well as the Grants Committee." 

Heather Carmichael is formerly from Portage la Prairie, was born in the area, and educated at Prince Charles and Portage Collegiate Institute. 

"Then she went on to become a medical secretary in the Tuxedo area at Winnipeg. Other than that, she certainly was a generous lady."

Lavallee adds the foundation fund is currently at about $13 million. She notes it's a large amount for a community our size. 

"That goes to show the generosity of the people in the area. Every year, we have an annual celebration and this year it's at the Herman Prior Activity Centre. That's where we recognize different fund anniversaries; people who have had a fund for 20 years, 15 years, 10 years, and five years, and so on. We also award our bursaries to the students that have applied for or that have been awarded bursaries, so it's kind of an exciting evening." 

 

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