Learning to live with wildlife, a community Christmas at a conservation area, and an accessible playground — these are three “small ideas” that have won three organizations in the Kawarthas $10,000 each from the 2018 Aviva Community Fund.
Kawartha Wildlife Centre, Kawartha Conservation, and Millbrook Christian Assembly were among 500 organizations competing for $1 million in funding from insurance group Aviva Canada.
Since its inception in 2009, the Aviva Community Fund has awarded $8.5 million to hundreds of charities and community groups across Canada. For 2018, a total of 50 prizes of $10,000 each were awarded to organizations with “small ideas” to bring people in their community together, based on the ideas that received the most number of online votes.
Kawartha Wildlife Centre
Kawartha Wildlife Centre, founded in 2017 with a mission to establish a full-service rehabilitation and treatment centre for injured or orphaned native wildlife, won $10,000 for its idea to educate the public on how to coexist with wildlife.
The Kawartha Wildlife Coexistence Initiative is a campaign to educate people in Kawartha Lakes and Peterborough on the benefits of protecting and conserving wildlife, delivered through summer educational camps, training, educational programs for classrooms, and more.
Kawartha Conservation
Kawartha Conservation won $10,000 for its idea of hosting a community Christmas event at Ken Reid Conservation Area in Lindsay. The concept involves bringing people together from different backgrounds, ages, and economic circumstances to enjoy a day of family, friends and companionship at a time of year that can be extremely difficult for some people, while at the same time celebrating and embracing nature.
“Christmas at Ken Reid” will take place from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 8th. The free family-oriented event will include horse-drawn wagon rides, an interactive native wildlife display with hands-on education sessions throughout the day featuring a variety of native wildlife, wild bird seed ornament making, kids’ Christmas craft activities from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., as well adult Christmas crafting from 10:45 a.m. There will also be a jingle bell interpretive nature hike along a portion of the Woodland Loop to the new accessible viewing platform overlooking the McLaren Marsh, and Santa will visit in the afternoon where he will be available for photos.
Millbrook Christian Assembly
Millbrook Christian Assembly won $10,000 for its idea to create Harvest Community Park, an accessible community playground in Millbrook.
The population of the village is expected to double within five years due to a new housing development, and there is a need for a community playground that is accessible and enjoyable for everyone.
