Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) has awarded $71,300 to the Community Support Services Network (CSSN) to help sustain their Grocery Program.
Welland – On Friday, MPP Jeff Burch and Welland Vice Mayor Leo Van Vliet met with
Community Support Services of Niagara to recognize the contributions of the Ontario Trillium
Foundation's $71,300 Resilient Communities Fund on the Grocery Delivery Program. The grant
has permitted CSSN to serve more than 100 unique clients and complete 800 grocery deliveries
between April 2022 and January 2023.
“I am very pleased to recognize this Trillium grant,” said Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch. “I
shudder to think about what could have happened to the many seniors and other mobility challenged people in my riding who simply could not have obtained food during pandemic
lockdowns had it not been for Community Support Services of Niagara and its grocery delivery
program. The service continues to go such a long way toward helping people remain
independent and healthy in their own homes.”
The grant allowed CSSN to build a strong foundation for the program ensuring its sustainability
post-covid. CSSN has successfully met the increased demand for service while developing and
implementing volunteer recruitment campaigns also working to solidify partnerships with
community agencies and grocery providers ensuring the program could grow. Thanks to the
Ontario Trillium Foundation's $71,300 grant, CSSN will be able to continue delivering the
grocery program to seniors and adults with disabilities across the Niagara Region.
"The impact of this Ontario Trillium Foundation grant cannot be undervalued," said Carolyn
Askeland, Executive Director of Community Support Services of Niagara (CSSN). “It has
allowed CSSN to assist seniors and adults with disabilities maintain health and well-being by
supporting them in accessing nutritional food. Often clients do not have the social supports to
assist them in accessing groceries and/or have health and mobility issues that impede their
ability to do it independently.”
Carolyn continued to say, “This grant made it possible for CSSN to reinvent and expand the
Grocery Delivery Program to ensure long-term sustainability and success for those we serve.”
We would also like to “congratulate the Ontario Trillium Foundation on 40 years of providing
grants and creating healthy and vibrant communities across Ontario."
If you would like information about this program and other programs available for seniors and
adults with disabilities allowing them to live independently in their own homes, please visit the
website at: https://happyinmyhome.ca/services/
The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF), an agency of the Government of Ontario and one of
Canada's largest granting foundations, is celebrating 40 years of Ontario grantmaking and
community impact. Last year, OTF invested $209M in 2,042 community projects and
partnerships, including funding for the Ontario government's Community Futures Fund. Visit the
otf.ca to learn more.
