(TLN) Through its Place-du-Souvenir special children’s fund, the City of Laval recently awarded $172,900 in subsidies to the Centre de bénévolat et moisson Laval, the Société de Saint-Vincent de Paul and the Centre communautaire Hochelaga.
As well, the city continues to support projects for the well-being of children already started by the Centre de bénévolat at moisson Laval to furnish food basics to families with children up to four years of age. A total of $174,400 was given by the city to this and another organization for the years 2019-2020.
For the children
“By putting this fund into place, it was our hope to make an impact on the lives of children and families who are vulnerable in order to fight against poverty and social exclusion,” said Mayor Marc Demers.
“We also wanted to encourage perseverance in school and educational success while facilitating the social integration of young immigrants. This agreement with three organizations active in Laval shows the willingness of an entire community to work closely together to assure back-to-schools are successful and stimulating.”
Gift cards for supplies
The agreement between the city and the Centre de bénévolat et moisson Laval, the Société de Saint-Vincent de Paul and the Centre communautaire Hochelaga will be providing youngsters from Laval with gift cards that will allow them to buy school supplies, a lunch box and a back pack in order to get the school year off right.
To these will be added winter outerwear including accessories, through schools located in Laval. It is estimated that nearly 6,800 children in Laval will benefit from these measures.
Following two successful pilot projects by the Centre de bénévolat et moisson Laval which distributed kits for newborn babies and snacks for two to four-year-olds, the Place du Souvenir Fund’s consultative committee renewed its financial support as part of a partnership agreement.
Thousands of kits
As a result, 2,600 kits will be distributed, with 1,300 of them containing specialized products for newborns (such as diapers, diaper rash creams, shampoos and milk products), while two to four-year-olds will receive 1,300 nutritious snacks consisting primarily of fruits, vegetables and grain-based products.
The Place-du-Souvenir Fund was created in June 2018 by the City of Laval’s executive-committee to oversee disbursement to selected children’s charities and causes of sums of money which were claimed back by the City of Laval following investigations of long-term public corruption. The fund has agreements with partner organizations until the end of this year.
