Canberra Foundations Collaborative distributes almost $1.3 million to 57 local organisations

Almost $1.3 million has been divided between 57 projects by the collaboration of local charities - Hands Across Canberra which administers the Chief Minister's Charitable Fund, the Snow Foundation and the John James Foundation.

The three philanthropic powerhouses joined forces last year to help more local causes by pooling their resources and reducing administration.

This latest round of grants represents the first time the collaborative has been able to fund some projects for successive years.

It was "also excited to have additional funders coming to the table, including the Aspen Foundation".

The 57 organisations supported in the 2023 grants ranged from ACT Pet Crisis Support to Carers ACT to The Men's Table.

Some of the groups were represented at an official announcement of the grants in Canberra on Wednesday including The One Box program which provides families with a weekly box of fresh fruit and vegetables and bread.

The One Box program received $75,000 over three years, working with Together4Youth and seven Queanbeyan schools to distribute the boxes to families in need.

Together4Youth CEO Andrew Turvey said the weekly box of food would start going out at the beginning of term three, as the cost of living crisis meant some children were simply not getting enough to eat.

"Families are really rationing food," he said.

"Parents won't eat or children will get one meal a day. Or it might be meals in the first half of the week and scraps in the second half."

The latest grants round also saw $30,000 go to Capital Region Muscular Dystrophy to purchase two specialist chairs from the United States so more people with the condition could play in the Power Chair Football League, run by Capital Football.

Capital Region Muscular Dystrophy secretary Rob Oakley said the power chairs gave participants confidence to play a team sport and some the aspiration to play at a national level. And they were just a lot of fun.

"They're basically a go-kart on steroids with a big metal bar at the front that lets you bash a soccer ball around," he said, with a smile.

One of the league's players, Brandan Stroud, 24, of Wanniassa, said of the chairs: "They're very fast and the controls are very sensitive".

Walgalu Ngambri and Dharawal woman Kristen Franks worked two jobs as a public servant and casual registered nurse in mental health to self-fund the Mental Health Mob for 18 months, helping to provide culturally safe and informed mental health services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Canberra.

After the Mental Health Mob received $50,000 in funding from the Canberra Foundations Collaborative, she can focus on helping more of her community.

"I really wanted to give back and see my community thrive," she said.

John James Foundation CEO Joe Roff said the collaboration of charities was not only working well, but leading by example.

"I think this collaboration could be a really nice case study for philanthropy in Australia," he said.

Snow Foundation CEO Georgina Byron said more than 80 per cent of those projects invited to apply for grants were funded.

"We're responding to a whole lot of needs," she said.

Hands Across Canberra CEO Peter Gordon said the need expressed by charities had not lessened post-COVID.

"The cost-of-living crisis is more profound, the more vulnerable you are," he said.

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