Grants help continue Saskatchewan ‘acts of kindness’ during coronavirus pandemic

[July 23, 2020: Global News]

Nominations continue to pour in for Saskatchewan people and businesses that responded to the coronavirus pandemic in extraordinary and ordinary ways.

Since June 10, Conexus Credit Union has been accepting public nominations for its Kindness Capital Fund, which will award 40 grants of $5,000 cash.

“We had no idea the power and the number of stories we were going to hear from all across Saskatchewan,” said Eric Dillion, CEO of Conexus Credit Union.

Dillion noted that nominations are being scored in real-time to give immediate cash flow to continue these acts of kindness until the fund is distributed.

Nominees must be 18 or older, reside or operate a business in Saskatchewan, and have started their act of kindness around or after March 13.

Now at the halfway point, Conexus has awarded $100,000 to 20 different initiatives from Regina, Harris, Green Lake, Saskatoon, Indian Head, Martensville, Prince Albert, Brownlee, Meadow Lake, La Ronge, and Montmartre.

More than 160 nominations have come in so far, and recipients cannot be self-nominated.

The Reverse School Bus program, which helped kids who typically rely on school lunch programs continue to receive meals, was awarded a $5,000 grant through the Conexus Credit Union Kindness Capital Fund.

Among the first recipients of the fund was Sask Masks, an initiative created by four University of Regina business students at the start of the pandemic to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“Regina has, right from the start, supported us and followed us on our mission, as well as helped us with donations of fabrics and we’ve had people just reach out wanting to donate to the cause,” said Jana Ham of Sask Masks.

Ham said the initiative received 160 mask orders on the day the students announced the project, increasing to a peak 1,000 orders a week. Since the first day, the initiative has expanded to include 36 volunteer sewers and five fabric cutters.... MORE