Punch Drunk Cabaret performs at JazzFest on the downtown parkade in this June 2019 file photo. The Medicine Hat Jazz Society is just one of several local groups to receive funding through the city's Community Vibrancy grants.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
Nearly $40,000 in city grants for events that were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic have been reallocated to new proposals to boost community spirit and safe activities.
The reconfigured “Community Vibrancy” grants were presented to council on Monday.
Three standing city grant programs allocate $43,500 each year to community organizations and sports teams, but only one-tenth had been spent by mid-March, at which time most events and tournaments were shelved due to health regulations.
In the summer, administrators put out another call for proposals for the remaining $39,000 that can only be used alongside other revenue sources and for mostly non-capital expenses.
A finalized list of new grants show the largest amounts will go to longstanding groups that had 2020 events cancelled or postponed and would have benefitted from original grants.
The Medicine Hat Jazz Society will receive $8,000 to develop virtual and online events for the upcoming JazzFest. The Spectrum festival will develop a city-wide hop-on, hop-off tour with $6,000 decimated to bus rentals.
The local Folk Music Club will receive $2,000 to add alternate music styles to this winter’s Tongue on the Post event.
Other substantial amounts will go to the Southern Alberta Pop Up Parks Association to provide online community events ($7,200), and to Roadworn Productions ($3,500) to develop a local “Play Music on your Porch Day.”.
Other grants:
– MH Skateboard Assoc., $2,500, support for the July 1, “Beat the Heat” amateur skateboard competition;
– Family Fun and Flight, $2,500, add a aircraft display at the Medicine Hat Regional Airport;
– MH Local Immigration Partnership, $1,800, volunteer engagement;
– SE Hill Neighbourhood Assoc., $1,500, support community events in 2021;
– MH Dance Project Society, $1,500, to offer free outdoor adult dance and fitness classes.
