RTOERO distributes $87,000 in grants to back community projects across Ontario

Toronto, Nov. 15, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Twenty-two community projects across Ontario are getting a boost thanks to funding from RTOERO’s annual community grants campaign. 

Since 1968, RTOERO has been a voice for teachers, school and board administrators, educational support staff and college and university faculty and staff in their retirement. Our mission is to improve the lives of our members and seniors. 

In each RTOERO district, members take on many volunteer and advocacy roles. Districts can also apply for community grants that support a local program. 

This year’s community grants total $87,471 – for projects that support seniors, children, the most vulnerable, community connections and the environment.  

“Across Ontario, grassroots actions can stitch a community together. That’s the idea behind the grants program, whose impact is felt widely,” says Martha Foster, chair of the board at RTOERO. “Our members care about their communities, and in partnership with great organizations that caring translates into action on the ground. We believe in a better future, together.” 

Each year, a committee of RTOERO members assesses the merits of each grants submission. Since the inception of the program 22 years ago, RTOERO has donated more than $1.9 million to more than 525 programs and projects. 

The full list of the 2022 projects:

• District 3 Algoma: $4,000 for the YMCA’s Get Moving program for seniors in Sault Ste. Marie.

• District 5 Cochrane Temiskaming: $3,901 to enhance the Montessori-based cognitive learning materials in use at Golden Manor Home for the Aged in Timmins.

• District 8 London Middlesex: $4,000 to support an inclusive and accessible park in Dorchester, part of Thames Centre.

• District 10 Bruce Grey & Dufferin: $4,000 for OSHaRE, the Owen Sound Hunger and Relief Effort.

• District 13 Hamilton-Wentworth & Haldimand: $4,000 to support Cycling Without Age in Hamilton.

• District 14 Niagara: $4,000 to support the Clarice West-Hobbs Contemplative Garden at St. Catharines Hospital.

• District 17 Simcoe County: $4,000 for friendship dinners in the Collingwood area.

• District 19 Hastings & Prince Edward: $3,710 for benches for seniors along the East Zwick’s Park Walking Trail in Belleville.

• District 21 Renfrew: $4,000 for the Ottawa River Watershed Health Assessment and Monitoring (WHAM) Project.

• District 22 Etobicoke and York: $4,000 for Community Living Toronto for music therapy for seniors with developmental disabilities.

• District 23 North York: $4,000 to support the One Voice program responding to domestic violence in the community.

• District 25 Stormont Dundas Glengarry: $4,000 to support the Association canadienne-française de l’Ontario with their Juste pour Séniors: LOL-Mort de rire project (Just for Seniors: Laugh Out Loud).

• District 27 Ottawa-Carleton: $4,000 to help the Canadian Martyrs Parish serve the Centre 507 sandwich club.

• District 30 Northumberland: $4,000 for the YMCA Northumberland to deliver an empowerment series on social issues.

• District 31 Wellington: $4,000 for Focus on Nature to help children foster their creativity and facilitate a new way of seeing the world.

• District 32 Prescott-Russell: $3,860 to bring drum circles to residences for seniors.

• District 35 Dryden: $4,000 for a large-print book collection at Dryden Public Library.

• District 36 Peterborough: $4,000 to enable headsets at the Showplace Performance Centre.

• District 40 Brant: $4,000 to help Grand River Council on Aging research the need for a men’s shed in the Brantford-Brant region.

• District 45 EstaRIO: $4,000 for Regroupement Autisme Prescott-Russell towards pet therapy, music therapy, adapted physical activity and outings.

• District 47 Vancouver Island: $4,000 for the 7-10 Club in Nanaimo to support their food program for those in need.

• District 48 Leeds and Grenville: $4,000 for the Thousand Islands Watershed Land Trust to enhance the Farm at Glen Elbe’s Connect to Nature program.

RTOERO is a bilingual trusted voice on healthy, active living in the retirement journey for the broader education community. With 82,000+ members in 51 districts across Canada, we are the largest national provider of non-profit group health benefits for education retirees.

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• RTOERO distributes $87,000 in grants to back community projects across Ontario
• RTOERO distributes $87,000 in grants to back community projects across Ontario