By John Francis
On November 25, 2024 Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula (MNBP) Council will be considering 47 funding requests submitted by 40-odd organizations. The list makes very good reading. You can find it online in the Agenda for the Special Council Meeting on November 25, 2024. The total of these requests is $81,825, which amounts to about 1% of MNBP’s budget.
But only half of that sum is for cash; the other half is for in-kind donations, mainly a waiver of rental fees on various facilities (principally Rotary Hall, Lion’s Head Arena and Community Centre and Tobermory Community Centre) and for insurance coverage of events at those facilities.
On paper, the largest item is a waiver of rental and insurance fees on the Tobermory Community Centre for the Tobermory Coffee Club, who meet three mornings a week from 7:30 to 9:30. On paper, that’s a “donation” of $11,556. Go figure.
The next largest item is the Tobermory Legion Ladies’ Auxiliary, who are requesting $8,064 in waivers of rental fees on Tobermory Community Centre for bingo fundraisers, daycare fundraisers and the Santa Claus Parade, plus $350 in cash to support the Santa Claus Parade.
The next largest item is the Top of the Bruce Wood Carvers, who are asking for $5,178 in rental and insurance waivers at Tobermory Community Centre.
VON Grey Bruce are asking for $5,110 in waivers to run the SMART exercise program at Tobermory and Lion’s Head Community Centres.
Then there’s The Men’s Breakfast, which is asking for $3,300 in waivers of rental and insurance fees at Tobermory Community Centre.
After that comes the Lion’s Head Hospital Auxiliary, who request a waiver of $2,400 in rentals on the Lion’s Head Community Centre for their meetings.
That’s $35,608 in imaginary donations to six groups. (I say imaginary because the groups couldn’t possibly afford to pay the going rate. These “in-kind donations” are simply bookkeeping entries, reflecting the fact that groups of taxpayers were permitted to use a municipal facility.)
The actual cash donations requested are $40,390 — one half of one percent of the budget.
If you look at the list of 40-odd organizations applying for these grants and grants-in-kind, it gives you an idea of how deep our volunteer pool is here in MNBP.
Every one of these organizations has a board (or leadership team) and a membership list. (It should be noted that not all of our volunteer groups are even listed. The Lions Club, for example — one of our largest and most active service clubs — isn’t mentioned because they didn’t ask for money.)
In a community of 4,000 people, small numbers can mean very large percentages. Forty organizations at ten volunteers each is 400 people — that’s 10% of the population.
A number of those organizations have memberships/participants of at least 2% of the population — the Men’s Breakfast, pickleball, the SMART programs, Lion’s Head Skating Club, Lion’s Head Minor Hockey, Bruce Peninsula Environment Group, Lion’s Head Farmer’s Market, Bayside Astronomy. Then there are the groups that support crucial services — the food banks, the Hospital and Clinic Auxiliaries, the Legions, Golden Dawn…
I just wanted to acknowledge the huge contribution that those volunteers and board members make to our community. The cultural and support services they provide add tremendously to our quality of life.
And for one half of one percent of the budget — they’re one heckuva deal.
