Charities get $400k boost

The Bermuda Community Foundation (BCF) is giving $427,250 to eight nonprofit programmes in five fields of work.  The grants help non-profits to improve the lives of people throughout Bermuda.

Through the Buechner Society of Bermuda Fund for Family Literacy and Literature, three charities will receive grants totalling over $105,000 to launch the Read*Write*Bermuda Campaign to build readers, support writers, and expand libraries. Recipients include:

• Friends of the Bermuda National Library

• CedarBridge Academy PTSA

• The Reading Clinic

The Family Centre received $75,000. This was to provide core support to this organization to improve the lives of vulnerable children, youth and families, through improved service provision, strengthened service coordination, child and family welfare policy analysis and; to better understand and address the root causes of ongoing family dysfunction, such as poverty and under-education, that result in trauma.  

YouthNet got $20,000 to improve the lives of vulnerable children, youth and families, through the provision of school-based mentoring services.

HSBC, KPMG, BEDC, Butterfield Bank and Capital G, in collaboration with the Bermuda College, gave $82,500 to develop, launch and execute a curriculum for a sustained certificate training programme for small business and not-for-profit organization leaders on effectively managing a small business operation.

The Friends of Bermuda Railway were given $100,000 through the RenaissanceRe Charitable Fund at BCF, which in collaboration with other funders are further repairing the island’s railway trail for the recreational use of all residents.

A spokesperson for BCF said: “These grant opportunities are made available through BCF’s Donor-Directed grants programme, where a donor has asked BCF to manage its grant-making funds and then makes recommendations as to how those funds shall be disbursed.  

“Upcoming grant opportunities will be regularly published and open to all Bermuda-based organizations in September, 2014.”