Nine local groups will benefit from the 2025 Petrolia Community Fund Impact Grants program.
The grant recipients were recently recognized during a Petrolia council meeting.
One of the recipients included St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church to support its Friday lunch assistance program. Spokesperson Patti Newman said the program began with serving 58 students and they now serve an average of 300 students per week.
"Some kids have told us when they're leaving, it's the only meal they're going to get that day. It breaks your heart to hear that," said Newman. "But it's an amazing experience to see the kids come in. They're amazing kids. They're so polite, thankful, they clean up after themselves... It's just very uplifting."
Lambton County Developmental Services (LCDS) also received grant funding for heritage signage at The Olde Post Office Gift Shoppe.
"That will help visitors -- people understand the social impact and connection that building has to LCDS," said Executive Director Nick Salaris. "We wouldn't really be able to do that, we're not funded for signage and stuff like that, so this is huge. It doesn't sound overly exciting to many people, but signage for us to let people know who we are and what we do is really special."
Central Lambton Family Health Team also received a financial boost to support its new patient care support fund. Executive Director Sarah Milner said the funding will be used to help patients with medical-related costs.
"We have a process in place for that, and we've actually had one person access that account already for some baby formula that was specialized," Milner said.
Literacy Lambton accepted funding for its Train Your Brian program. Head Coach Julia Redick said the free eight-week program is currently being held at the Lions Club for Grades 3 and 4 students, to help them with math and literacy.
"These funds will be used towards next year's program," Redick said.
The Petrolia District Skating Club received grant funding to help supplement coaching costs for the season.
"To enhance the quality of our programming, we increased our NCCP (National Coaching Certification Program) certified coaching staff from one to three coaches for our PreCanSkate session and from two to three coaches for our Sunday and Tuesday CanSkate sessions," said Petrolia District Skating Club Board of Directors President Amanda Wray. "These improvements allow our skaters to receive more one-on-one instruction and more frequent assessments from qualified coaches."
Other grant recipients included the Charlotte Eleanor Englehart Hospital Foundation for vital sign monitors, the Kiwanis Club of Petrolia for safety resources to help during its Fiery Faces event, St. Paul’s United Church to support the community refrigerator, and the Petrolia YMCA for an outdoor canopy.
The Petrolia Community Fund was established in November 2012. Grants are distributed each year to support local non-profit groups and charitable initiatives.
“This is great news for our community. These groups and organizations all play a very important role in helping Petrolia be an incredible place to live and work and to raise our families,” said Mayor R. Brad Loosley in a statement.
Sarnia Community Foundation (SCF) Executive Director Mike Barron also highlighted the work done by individuals and groups in the community and the continued growth of the Petrolia Community Fund.
"This year we had $13,000 and when I first came here, I think we started with $10,000, so we're growing, which is wonderful," said Barron.
He also noted the SCF is working with donors to help with other capital projects at Charlotte Eleanor Englehart Hospital, Victoria Playhouse Petrolia, and the Petrolia Legion.
Further details about the Petrolia Community Fund can be found on the Town of Petrolia's website.
