THUNDER BAY - A good idea is the first step in creating real change and one Thunder Bay company wants to help turn those ideas into a reality.
The TbayTel for Good Community Fund was launched on Tuesday, opening nominations for ideas that help build and strengthen the community.
“We were looking for the public to tell us how we can support the community in a meaningful way,” said Laura Foulds, TbayTel for Good coordinator. “We do have a sponsorship program outside of that but we really wanted to get feedback from the neighbourhood that we serve on what we might be missing, where is there a need where we might not necessarily be giving funding already.”
This year, TbayTel is holding the Good Schools Program and the Good Community Program. The schools program provides students, teachers, and parents to submit ideas to help improve the classroom.
“It could be anything that a student might see or a teacher might see in their school as a need that needs to be filled or a gap that might just not be funded,” Foulds said. “They can go online and apply for the potential to win $1,250 of funding.”
The Good Community Program is open to non-profit organizations and community groups to submit ideas for existing programming or new programs that benefit the community. These groups are eligible to receive $5,000.
The TbayTel for Good Community Fund was first launched in 2016 and it supported 14 community-based projects and funded seven successful projects in the spring of 2017 with $22,500.
“The schools, when we first did that program and that launch in fall 2016, the response was phenomenal,” Foulds said. “I believe we had between 80 and 100 submissions. The judging panel really had a tough decision to narrow that down.”
This year, the TbayTel for Good Community Fund will provide funding to five school projects and two community projects this fall. A shortlist of the best ideas will be made available to the public who will then be able to vote on the top five.
Submissions can be made online at tbaytelforgood.net until Oct. 10, 2017.
“There are people who actually benefit from this funding, which is why we love this program so much,” Foulds said.
