Lockboxes, a playground, and a glowing blue blanket were just some of the causes supported this week as St. Albert’s community foundation celebrated a record year of grants.
About 70 people were at the Century Casino Dec. 5 for the St. Albert Community Foundation’s annual Celebration of Philanthropy, which showcases the community groups supported by the foundation.
The foundation manages about $4 million donated by St. Albert-area families which fund various grants and scholarships, said president Doug Campbell. This year saw the foundation distribute a record $525,000 in support to local students and community organizations, including $365,000 in COVID-19 recovery money from the federal Community Services Recovery Fund.
This week’s celebration saw the foundation distribute some $115,000 to 15 St. Albert-area organizations. Guests heard how these funds would help build a new playground at École Sacré Coeur, facilitate harp therapy at Foyer Lacombe, and renovate the intensive care family room at the Sturgeon Community Hospital.
Locks, playgrounds, blankets
Lacombe Park resident Matt Borodawka accepted a $2,000 grant from the foundation on behalf of Variety Alberta to fund construction of an accessible playground on Lodgepole Cres.
Borodawka said his family lives near the current Lodgepole Cres. playground. His four-year-old daughter, Jordyn, can’t use the playground as she has congenital myasthenic syndrome, a neurological disorder that requires her to breathe through a ventilator and eat through a tube. When Borodawka learned the city planned to replace the playground, he teamed up with them and Variety Alberta to raise money to build a fully accessible playground.
“Every piece of equipment on the playground will be accessible by wheelchair and usable by special needs children,” he said, including his daughter.
Borodawka said the project was now about a third of the way to its $150,000 goal, which it had to meet by the end of this year. Regardless of how the playground turns out, he said it should support many kids in the neighbourhood.
“There’s going to be no shortage of happy children when we upgrade this park.”
The Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation got $10,000 to buy the neoBLUE blanket system.
Babies can get jaundice when too much bilirubin builds up in their blood, turning their skin yellow and putting them at risk of brain damage, said hospital foundation spokesperson Lindsay Robertson. Doctors typically treat such babies by putting them in an incubator flooded with blue light, but this means separating babies from its parents. This new system uses a special blanket that shines blue light on whatever it is wrapped around, allowing parents to hold their babies during treatment.
Robertson said this grant brings the hospital foundation to about $50,000 of the $71,000 it needs for the blankets.
The St. Albert Seniors Association received $7,000 for its lock box initiative.
Right now, if a senior living alone calls for help but can’t reach their door, first responders have to break down that door to get to them, said seniors association operations manager Lila Debruin. This grant will let the seniors association provide hundreds of St. Albert seniors with lock boxes they can install outside their homes. Just like the ones used by realtors, these lock boxes contain house keys and are opened by inputting a code. By giving first responders that code, seniors can ensure help can reach them in an emergency without causing property damage.
Visit sacf.ca for more on the community foundation.
