Lions Fort McMurray Wildfire Assistance Announcement - Funding available to support local organizations

The Lions of Alberta Foundation (LOAF) is pleased to announce that funding is available for organizations affected by the 2016 Horse River Wildfire.

“Lions everywhere watched the events of the wildfire unfold,” said Fred Walters, president Lions of Alberta Foundation. “Donations came in from Lions all over Canada and as far away as the state of Maine in the US. The donations were to help local organizations with their recovery and resiliency efforts and to rebuild and replace items lost or damaged in the fire.”

Walters noted that after meeting with several agencies and organizations in Fort McMurray late last summer, the first round of funding allocations have been made. Over $80,000 in funding will enable both the Fort McMurray Public School District and the Fort McMurray Catholic School District to replace Chrome Books and Robots damaged through the heat and smoke of the fire.

“These interactive tools are vital to the schools to engage the children’s bright minds and keep them competitive in the robotics and computer science fields,” said Walters. “The Allocations Committee saw that these items were required immediately.”    

“Other applications from the 1^st round of funding are working through the inquiry process and now LOAF is accepting applications for the 2^nd round of funding allocations,” continued Walters.

The criteria for funding are:

1. Loss caused by or related to the 2016 Horse River Wildfire
2. Organization must not be a Government  agency
3. Other funders have not met the total funding requirements
4. Requests must be to the benefit of the whole community (no funding for individuals)

The deadline to submit funding requests is April 1^st, 2018. Lions of Alberta Foundation requests that all requests be sent by email to jwalter1@telus.net.

About the Lions of Alberta Foundation

Established in 1980, the Lions of Alberta Foundation assists Lions Clubs in Alberta in handling major community projects and disaster relief. The Foundation provides tax receipts for donations, manages Lions facilities, and offers bursaries, scholarships and financial assistance. Of particular interest is funding sight related equipment for the sight impaired. For more information please visit:http://www.e-district.org/sites/albertafoundation/

About Lions International

Lions around the world have been changing lives for 100 years through humanitarian service. We are 1.4 million men and women who believe that kindness matters. And when we work together, we can achieve bigger goals. For more information please visit: http://www.lionsclubs.org/EN/index.php

For more information, please contact:

Fred Walters, President Lions of Alberta Foundation

Email: jwalters1@telus.net

Phone: 1-403-861-9016