Community Foundation seeks new projects to fund

By Lethbridge Herald on August 26, 2025.

Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman The Lethbridge Therapeutic Riding Association showcases a cart designed to accommodate people with wheelchairs or scooters funded by the Community Foundation of Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta, during the Whoop-Up Days Parade Tuesday along downtown Lethbridge.

Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald

The Community Foundation of Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta’s Fall 2025 Grants Cycle is now accepting applications to both the Community Priorities Fund and the Henry S. Varley Fund for Rural Life.

After awarding $299,571 to organizations in the spring, the fund has another $270,000 available this fall to support the important work of local charitable sector.

The Henry S. Varley Fund for Rural Life has awarded $119,374 this year and has another $198,000 available this fall to organizations, projects, and initiatives that enhance rural communities.

Charleen Davidson, executive director, says she is excited to see what ideas applicants have come up with, as this is something that always impresses her during this process. 

“I am impressed not only by the passion of the people applying for the applications, but also the ideas they come up with for things they want to do, to make their community a better place,” says Davidson. 

With the application deadline for both programs being 4:00 p.m. on Oct. 15, Davidson explains that they have it open for couple of months for a few different reasons. 

“It’s a relatively simple application, but we like to give people enough time to gather information like a variety of estimates for projects they are working on to make sure they are getting a fair price, and sometimes that can take up some time to gather,” says Davidson. 

Another reason is to give the Community Foundation’s grants co-ordinator, Caitlin Gajdostik enough time to interact with applicants that require assistance, as she does one-on-one consultations. Gajdostik can be reached by phone at 403-328-5297, or by email at grants@cflsa.ca. She is available to answer questions regarding the application process and will host a free online information session at 10:00 a.m. on Sept. 17. 

“We are always over-subscribed, so we always encourage people to apply early to make sure they have enough time to consult with Caitlin,” says Davidson.  

In order to apply, they must be a registered charity or apply in partnership with a qualified donee, including a municipality, school district, or CRA registered charity and they can apply as long as they have not been funded within the last two years. 

Davidson says if a project is divided into multiple phases, an application can be done for a different phase after receiving funding and waiting the appropriate time frame before re-applying. 

“If we already funded you for windows, and you are still working on windows, don’t apply for more windows funding, because we have already funded the windows. But it can be a different element or initiative within the same project.”

Davidson says no project is too small or too big to be considered for funding. 

“We want people to ask for what they need instead of thinking that the ask might not be big enough.”

She says one project in the past only required the purchase of a laptop and they funded it, and another one involved purchasing skates for a small community so kids can rent them. 

“You cannot put a dollar amount on impact, sometimes a small amount a money can make a huge impact on a community.”

Davidson would like to invite those who have been funded in the past to share their progress and allow them to visit once their project is finished. Something that already happens quite often. 

One of their funded projects from the last cycle was on display at the Whoop-Up Days parade, a first-of-its-kind adaptive cart, used by the Lethbridge Therapeutic Riding Association to expand access to equine wellness programs and include people in wheelchairs or scooters, with epilepsy, who wear head support needs or are otherwise fragile. 

The cart acts somewhat like a carriage, being pulled by a horse via two arms that hook onto the horse and can seat two people and a wheelchair. This was demonstrated during the parade. For more information, go to http://www.cflsa.ca/grants