NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release 2008PSSG0026-000636 May 30, 2008	Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General
$35 MILLION FROM GAMING SUPPORTS 1,171 COMMUNITY GROUPS

VICTORIA – Palliative care companions, food banks, seniors’ counsellors and summer camps are among human and social service providers that benefited from nearly $35 million in grants from gaming revenue during 2007/08, Solicitor General John van Dongen has announced.

 

“The kindness, dedication and quality of service demonstrated by these service providers, many of whom are volunteers, enrich the lives of thousands of the most vulnerable and less-fortunate British Columbians,” said van Dongen. “These gaming grants are investments in the strength and health of our communities.”

 

Grant recipients include a Comox hospice association that provides emotional support to people in palliative care and grief support to their loved ones, a Mission program that engages ex-offenders in presenting life skills and crime prevention sessions to youth, and educational and therapeutic programs with horses and dogs to help Quesnel-area residents with physical, mental, emotional and social challenges.

 

Each year, human and social services grants are available to eligible non-profit community organizations to help them deliver programs that benefit their broader communities. A local organization may receive up to $100,000 a year while the maximum grant for provincewide organizations is $250,000.

 

The ministry accepts human and social services grant applications each year between Aug. 1 and Nov. 30. Grants are approved by Feb. 28 of the following year.

 

The grants to human and social service providers are among $147.6 million in gaming grants that approximately 6,850 community organizations across the province shared in fiscal 2007/08. For lists of grant recipients, application deadlines and other information on the gaming industry, please visit www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/gaming/news/index.htm online.

 

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Media contact:	Cindy Rose Public Affairs Bureau 250 356-6961
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