Community Service Projects Grants Overview and Guidelines

“Building Relationships in the Community!”
 
OVERVIEW and GUIDELINES
C-K ROTARY COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT GRANTS
SPRING 2024
Deadline for Submission: midnight APRIL 30, 2024
 
The main objective of Rotary is service to the community and beyond and the Rotary Motto is “Service Above Self.”  The Rotary Club of Cataraqui-Kingston has a lengthy history of awarding grants to local community organizations in support of specific projects designed to address the needs within the greater Kingston area. In the past, we have supported projects addressing many of today’s critical issues, including children and youth at risk, poverty and hunger, food literacy, special needs children, education and literacy, and, more recently, the environment.  
 
Twice yearly, Spring and Fall, our C-K Rotary Club invites submissions from local non-profit organizations for grant proposals to fund innovative specific projects that will benefit and strengthen the community. All proposed projects must be aligned with Rotary’s values, and with at least one of Rotary International’s Seven Areas of Focus:
 
  1. Peace and Conflict Resolution
  2. Disease Prevention and Treatment
  3. Providing Clean Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene
  4. Maternal and Child Health
  5. Basic Education and Literacy 
  6. Economic and Community Development (I.e., providing sustainable solutions to poverty)
  7. Preserving the Environment
Your grant application must also demonstrate the importance of our funding to the viability of your project and show that, through your project, the community would have an asset that it would not have otherwise.
 
GRANT CATEGORIES
 
  1. REGULAR COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT GRANTs
There is no set number. The number of regular grants awarded varies from year to year, depending on the quality of proposed projects and funds available in any given year.
 
  1. COMMUNITY SERVICE MINI-GRANTS (2 available, max $500 each)
Mini-Grants are designed to provide limited financial support for new small-scale initiatives for non-profit organizations or groups.
 
A. Community Service New Initiative Mini-Grant: Open to new and existing organizations with plans to launch a new small-scale or pilot project.
 
B. Community Service School-Based Mini-Grant:  Open to both High Schools and Elementary Schools, under the supervision of a Teacher Supervisor, for a  community service activity; intended for Student Clubs or Project Groups.
 
 
APPLICATION GUIDELINES
 
  • All applications must be submitted online on the appropriate application form. (There are 3.)
  • Read the Application Form carefully.  If you do not provide ALL the information requested, we may disqualify your application.  However, we may request additional details or clarification from the contact person during our assessment of your application.
  • All the information required is indicated on the online application form.
  • Budget and financial data must also be submitted, in MS Excel or CSV format. The online form allows you to upload these documents.
  • Successful project applicants will be notified by email or phone by a representative of the Rotary Club of Cataraqui-Kingston as soon as possible after the application deadline. 
  • Successful project applicants must be willing to maintain regular communication with the club about the project as it unfolds and to provide a detailed follow-up report along with a detailed financial statement to the Club not later than 12 months following receipt of the grant. A presentation to our club members may be requested.
  • Please note that failure to provide this follow-up reporting may eliminate your organization from future consideration for grants from the Rotary Club of Cataraqui-Kingston.
  • Please give careful consideration to how the Rotary Club of Cataraqui-Kingston and its members might work with your organization and its people on an ongoing basis to ensure the success of your project. We are particularly interested in developing partnerships that will extend beyond the project.
 
PLEASE NOTE:
  • Only proposals for SPECIFIC PROJECTS will be considered. 
  • We do not provide grants to fundraising campaigns.
  • We do not provide funding for operating costs.
  • We do not provide funds for gift cards.
  • Items produced with grant funds must not be sold, although voluntary donations for same are permissible.
  • Grant funds may be used only as specified in the grant proposal.
 
 
FAQs and APPLICATION FORMS:
 
Recent Grants Awarded:
Fall 2023:  The Rotary Club of Cataraqui-Kingston proudly awarded $4491 for for two projects serving the Kingston.
$2491 to The Mess Open Arts Studio for training, equipment, and supplies for their Pottery program.
$2000 to The Society for Conservation Biology - Kingston Chapter, for an Edible Native Garden on the Queen’s Campus which will be accessible to the public.
 
Spring 2023: The Rotary Club of Cataraqui-Kingston was very proud to be able to provide grants totalling $9,070 to three projects serving the Kingston area:
 
A.  Kingston Community House for Self Reliance
Project title:  BACK YARD PROJECT
$5,000 to convert the property behind 99 York Street into a welcoming, inclusive, accessible, and affordable meeting space for community members, organizations and individuals.
 
B.  Kingston Interval House
Project title:  OUTDOOR PLAY STRUCTURE
$2500 for a new play structure for the Robin’s Hope 2nd Stage Housing facility 
 
C.  National Youth Orchestra Canada
Project title:  DAY-IN-THE-LIFE PROJECT
$1570 to provide approximately 80 Kingston youth enrolled in Sistema Kingston with an entire day immersed in musical mentorship, backstage access, an orchestra rehearsal, and a Q and A session with professional musicians and a professional conductor.
 
Fall 2022:  The Rotary Club of Cataraqui-Kingston was very proud to be able to provide grants totalling $16,871. to four projects serving the Kingston area:
 
A. The Joe Chithalen Memorial Musical Instrument Lending Library
Project title:  Music in the Schools
$7,910 for a 19-piece Suzuki-Orff Starter set of instruments.
 
B. The Mess Studio
Project title:  Photography Group
$2,461 for equipment to develop skills in another medium for artistic expression.
 
C. Kingston Symphony Association
Project title:  Share the Music
$2,500 to support the attendance of children and their families for a Kingston Symphony concert they could otherwise not afford. 
 
D. Kingston 4 Paws Service Dogs
Project title:  Service Puppy In Training
$4,000 for expenses related to the care and training of a service dog in its first year.
 
Spring 2022:  The Rotary Club of Cataraqui-Kingston was very proud to be able to provide grants totalling $13,055.68. to three projects serving the Kingston area:
 
$1,725 Regular Grant to Loughborough Public School for outdoor education project in Frontenac Provincial Park.
$3,500 Regular Grant to Odessa Public School towards a playground structure for Kindergarten pupils.
$7,830.68 Regular Grant to Loughborough Public School for freezers, work tables, and shelving for the new Teaching Kitchen
 
Fall 2021: The Rotary Club of Cataraqui-Kingston was very proud to be able to provide grants totalling $9,497.88. to five projects serving the Kingston area:
 
$500 New Initiative School-Based Mini-Grant to Loughborough Pubic School, for a perennial food forest, as a complementary addition to the new Greenhouse and Teaching Kitchen project
$980 Regular Grant to the Autism Network LAC for 14 Autism Sensory Support Kits to be distributed to 14 schools in the Greater Kingston area, including Napanee
$2,500 Regular Grant to Kingston Interval House (KIH) to purchase emergency beds for their shelter and their second-stage housing facility
$2422.80 Regular Grant to Turtles Kingston for its Nest Protection program through construction of nesting boxes
$3100 Regular Grant to The Mess Open Arts Studio for update to flooring in washrooms (improvement of sanitary conditions).
 
Spring 2021: The Rotary Club of Cataraqui-Kingston was pleased to offer its first mini-grant of $500 to The Clothing Closet at Kingston Secondary School.
 
Fall 2020: The Rotary Club of Cataraqui-Kingston was very proud to be able to provide grants totalling $9,000. to three projects serving the Kingston area:
 
$3,000 to Outreach St. George's Kingston to purchase food for its Lunch by George program (continuing partnership)
$4,000 to Kingston 4 Paws Service Dogs for acquiring and training a service dog (continuing partnership)
$2,000 to Kingston Interval House (KIH) to acquire a commercial washer and dryer for Robin's Hope Second Stage Housing Facility,  to improve accessibility to its laundry facilities (new partnership)