Rocky View County (RVC) is now accepting applications for the Community Recreation Funding Grant program.

The county offers grant funding to assist non-profits with operating and capital costs that are in line with the building and enhancement of RVC community halls and recreation facilities.

RVC Division 2 Councillor Kim McKylor says that although the grant falls under the recreation category, the funding isn't only available for recreation programs.

"We offer several levels of funding for recreation but it's more than just recreation," says McKylor. "It's also cultural, it's to support local groups and maybe a community endeveour, and really anyone can apply that supports Rocky View residents in any of these things. It doesn't necessarily need to be located in Rocky View, it could actually be located in another municipality but they supply support to Rocky View residents."

McKylor says that organizations have the opportunity to apply for funding through two of main streams.

"So we have operational grants, and we have capitol grants," says McKylor. "If they're trying to upgrade something, like the Cochrane Ag Society for example, they had a roof leak and asked for a capitol grant to fix that."

McKylor says that several changes have been made to the grant program this year, with the introduction of the Community Enhancement Funding Grant.

"The smaller grants are called community enhancement grants and so that's to support heritage awareness," says McKylor. “So if someone was doing an event that supported heritage, or they wanted to develop volunteers, or do something with arts and festivals or some kind of community beautification."

The county has just over two million dollars allocated in the budget for the Community Recreation Funding Grant program, however initiatives that fall under the Community Enhancement Funding Grant are capped at $7,500.
 

The deadline for the Spring application is 4 pm, on Monday, March 1, 2021.

McKylor says that the county does reserve some funding for future initiatives that may arise down the road, and organizations will also have an opportunity to apply for the Community Recreation Funding Grant program in the fall.

"We try to reserve some money if we can for a fall intake as well," says McKylor. “Something will happen and  groups will all of a sudden need a capitol project , so we do try to reserve a little bit, but if we need to go into our reserves, we can as well."

You can find the application forms to apply for a Community Recreation Funding Grant here.