Niagara Sport Commission Named Finalist for 2012 Great Grants Award

News provided by

Ontario Trillium Foundation

Feb 22, 2012, 19:38 ET

Ontario Trillium Foundation recognizes project's outstanding impact 

TORONTO, Feb. 22, 2012 /CNW/ -

NEWS

The Ontario Trillium Foundation today announced that Niagara Sport Commission is a finalist for the prestigious 2012 Great Grants Awards. The awards recognize Ontario organizations that have demonstrated exceptional results, innovation and a lasting impact on the communities they serve.

Niagara Sport Commission has been selected as a finalist in the sport and recreation category. A total of eight 2012 Great Grants Awards recipients will be recognized in the presence of Hon. Michael Chan, Ontario Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, at a ceremony in Toronto on March 23.

FINALIST PROFILE

Niagara Sport Commission c/o Heart Niagara
Creating community and economic development through sport

Softball as community development? Kayaking as economic development? Absolutely. Community sport plays a critical role in the health, social well-being and economic development of communities. The Niagara Sport Commission is serving as the coordinator and catalyst that uses sports to make the region stronger and more vibrant. The Foundation supported the creation of this regional sport council to help facilitate and coordinate interdependence among the more than 250 local not-for-profit, private and public sports organizations. The Commission works to attract and manage major sporting events, such as the upcoming 2015 Pan Am Games, while also assisting local sport clubs with their events, conducting economic impact studies and assisting in the recruitment and training of volunteers. It also provides valuable internship opportunities to Niagara College and Brock University students, and builds partnerships among sport, business, tourism, and community organizations, promotes sport and physical activity programs at the grassroots level.

Niagara Sport Commission was awarded a Community grant of $144,000 over two years in 2009.

QUOTES

"We are very proud of the Niagara Sport Commission and are excited that, with this nomination, its work in the community will now be acknowledged across Ontario. Its efforts go to the heart of the Foundation's own work: to support good ideas and help foster community connections that improve people's quality of life."

  • Christine Clark, Chair of Niagara Grant Review Team, OTF

"The Niagara Sport Commission is very honoured to be nominated for this award. This is a direct result of the hard work of both our dedicated event volunteers, Executive Committee, Board of Directors, Committee members and staff both current and past. Special mention must be made of the original founders Nancy Sutton, Laura Cousens, Karen Stearne and Sue Morin, whose vision and dedication created and nursed the NSC through the infant stages. We would also like to acknowledge and thank our first Executive Director Scott McRoberts for his hard work and resiliency in laying the foundation of the organization. Finally we would like to thank Sue Morin for her work as our Interim Executive Director in late 2011 and early 2012 as well as Venture Niagara for their support."

  • Bram Cotton, Executive Director, Niagara Sport Commission

QUICK FACTS

  • Ontario Trillium Foundation Great Grants Award finalists were selected from among some 4,500 groups that received OTF support between April 2006 and December 2010
  • Eight Great Grants Awards will be presented on March 23 in Toronto:
    • One award for each of OTF's four funded sectors: arts and culture, sports and recreation, environment, and human and social services
    • The Minister's Award
    • The Chair's Award
    • The CEO's Award
    • The People's Choice Award
  • OTF grants funding to approximately 1,500 organizations each year.

MORE

 

Renée Ouellet
Ontario Trillium Foundation
1.800.263.2887 ext. 265
[email protected]

Chris Charlebois
Niagara Sport Commission
[email protected]

Organization Profile

Ontario Trillium Foundation