Jumpstart congratulates inclusive play grant recipients

TORONTO, Aug. 1, 2018 /CNW/ – Today, inclusive and accessible play will be brought to more communities across the country. Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities’ inaugural Accessibility Grants, including three separate awards of $1 million, will help make recreation facilities accessible to kids and families, breaking down barriers to sport and play.

“We received more than 200 grant submissions from across the country and I only wish we had the ability to fund them all,” said Scott Fraser, President, Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities. “Congratulations to our first Accessibility Grant recipients and to all those who are dedicated to making something special happen for deserving kids.”   

Congratulations to:

• The Living City Foundation for its Bolton Camp Revitalization Project which will help in the transformation of the Bolton Camp in Caledon, Ontario into a fully accessible, all-season recreation complex benefitting thousands of local kids who face physical, cognitive, and sensory disabilities;
• The Grandview Children’s Foundation for its support of a new Grandview Children’s Centre facility in Ajax where imaginative spaces will facilitate physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and enhanced playtime and enjoyable therapeutic recreation for children and youth with physical, communication and developmental needs and Durham Region community partners;
• TheCity of Victoria for the replacement of the Crystal Pool and Wellness Centre; the future building will be a truly inclusive recreation facility, anticipating a 35 per cent increase in visits thanks to the removal of barriers and introduction of new features such as lifts and ramps for pool tanks, fully accessible change facilities, and adaptive fitness equipment.

Six additional grants are being awarded to the Town of Kindersley (SK), the Peterborough (ON) Sport and Wellness Centre, Boys and Girls Club of Foothills (AB), City of Hamilton (ON), City of St. John’s (NL) and Durham Region Challenger Baseball (ON) as a part of Jumpstart’s Play Finds a Way movement.

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As part of Jumpstart’s Play Finds A Way movement, a commitment by Canadian Tire Corporation to help raise $50-million in an effort to remove accessibility barriers to sport and play, Jumpstart Accessibility Grants support capital costs of construction and renovations to improve physical accessibility to, and inclusivity in, recreation facilities. This marks the first of five years the Jumpstart Accessibility Grants will be available, with applications for the 2019 grants scheduled to open in December 2018 via jumpstart.canadiantire.ca. Eligible organizations include municipalities and public recreation centres and facilities, schools and community organizations with publically accessible facilities, and public recreation spaces owned and operated by private foundations. 

About Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities 

Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities is a national charity dedicated to helping kids overcome financial and accessibility barriers to sport and recreation in order to provide inclusive play for kids of all abilities. With an extensive, national network of more than 2,100 Community Partners and nearly 300 local chapters, Jumpstart helps eligible families cover the costs of registration, transportation, and equipment, and provides funding to selected organizations for recreational infrastructure and programming. Supported by the Government of Canada through Sport Canada and the Canadian Tire Family of Companies, which includes Canadian Tire, PartSource, Gas+, FGL (Sport Chek, Hockey Experts, Sports Experts, National Sports, Intersport and Atmosphere), Mark’s and Canadian Tire Financial Services, Jumpstart has enabled 1.6 million Canadian kids and counting to get in the game since 2005. For more information, visit jumpstart.canadiantire.ca.