RTOERO hands out $80,000 in grants for community projects across Ontario

For Ontario’s teachers, making a difference in the community doesn’t end after they stop working. RTOERO recently gave almost $80,000 to 22 of its districts to help fund educational, social, cultural and other community initiatives.

The grants are part of RTOERO’s annual Project – Service to Others (PSTO). Districts apply for individual projects that support a local, national or international program. Up to $4,000 per project is available.

“The PSTO program highlights the many ways that RTOERO members care about their communities and continue to serve them,” says Martha Foster, the chair of the board at RTOERO.

On their own, RTOERO members are active in the community as volunteers and donors for scores of non-profit groups. RTOERO districts also provide a vehicle for members to engage in community-building, raising awareness and support for a wide range of causes. Each fall, a committee of RTOERO members assesses the merits of each PSTO submission. The PSTO projects will continue into 2019.

The full list of the latest PSTO projects:

1. District 3 Algoma: $4,000 for the Sault Ste. Marie chapter of the international group Days for Girls for hygiene kits for girls.

2. District 5 Cochrane and Temiskaming: $4,000 for a new sound system for the volunteer band From the Heart/De tout coeur.

3. District 6 Parry Sound: $3,000 to help seven municipal libraries in east Parry Sound expand services in music, healthy living, early literacy, cooking and art.

4. District 7 Windsor-Essex: $4,000 for the Leone Residence group home for girls ages 12-18.

5. District 12 Norfolk: $4,000 for the Music for Memory program run by the Haldimand-Norfolk Alzheimer Society.

6. District 13 Hamilton-Wentworth: $4,000 for the Cancer Assistance Program.

7. District 17 Simcoe County: $3,000 for the Live on Legacy pilot at Matthews House Hospice in Alliston.

8. District 19 Hastings and Prince Edward: $4,000 for the Prince Charles Public School in Belleville for a reading nook in the library.

9. District 21 Renfrew: $2,000 to enable trained RTOERO members to deliver two education sessions developed by Elder Abuse Ontario.

10. District 22 Etobicoke and York: $3,500 for an arts event at Michael Power Park in Islington Village.

11. District 23 North York: $4,000 for the Turning the Page project to create a library for children in a women’s shelter.

12. District 24 Scarborough and East York: $4,000 for the Eppleworth Adult Centre in Scarborough, to assist with a cooking program for people with developmental disabilities.

13. District 26 Kenora: $4,000 for the toddler areas of a splash pad at the re-developed Norman Park.

14. District 28 Region of Durham: $4,000 for the Durham Region Senior 55+ Games.

15. District 30 Northumberland: $4,000 for the training and seminar room in the new Northumberland Hospice Care Centre.

16. District 34 York Region: $3,085 to build the employability skills of adults with developmental challenges and autism who will work at Commons Coffee at the Newmarket Farmers Market.

17. District 36 Peterborough: $4,000 for bathroom renovations in the new Norwood hospice.

18. District 37 Oxford: $4,000 for the Oxford chapter of the international group Days for Girls for hygiene kits for girls.

19. District 40 Brant: $4,000 for the Bed for Every Child project from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

20. District 41 Elgin: $4,000 for sanitation improvements at the East Meru Community School in Tanzania.

21. District 44 Région du ciel bleu: $3,000 for after-school program from the Centre de formation du Nipissing, which serves three local francophone elementary schools.

22. District 45 EstaRiO: $2,000 for a humanitarian trip to the John-Paul II Centre in Huatusco, Mexico, by students at École secondaire catholique L’Escale in Rockland.

Since 1968, RTOERO has provided programs and services for the broader education community. As a strong and active voice for a voluntary membership of over 81,000. RTOERO offers and supports health care coverage, pension support, group travel programs, community involvement and advocacy. 

Media contact: Martha Foster, Board Chair, RTOERO
1-800-361-9888, [email protected]

Reference: Danielle Norris, Manager of Marketing and Communications, RTOERO
1-800-361-9888, [email protected]