Casino funds allocated to ‘helping our people’

Together, the City of Belleville with support from OLG Shorelines Casino, are working to take care of our people.

Three community groups detailed what funding support from the City, through the Social Infrastructure Fund, means to their organizations at a presentation on Thursday afternoon at the Quinte Sports and Wellness Centre as part of an OLG Recognition Event.

Susanne Quinlan from Gleaners Food Bank, Margaret Wagner of The Situation Table and Ruth Ingersoll of the Community Development Council were three of 16 organizations which received funding last year.

Quinlan says the funds have helped the organization expand and continue to grow as their client base grows.

Wagner told those in attendance, the funds helped get a woman living in her car with her four children into a home and her kids back into school.

Ingersoll spoke about the community gardens providing fresh, nutritious food to those who may not necessarily be able to afford it, and the community kitchen providing 120 people cooking classes so they know how to cook for themselves.

Mayor Mitch Panciuk says all funding matters, but the Social Infrastructure Fund changes lives.

The City received $2.9 million  from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018.

Mayor Panciuk says the funding helps the City afford things they otherwise would have been unable to.

Tyjondah Kerr, Senior Manager, Municipal and Community Relations Corporate Affairs said since the casino has opened, the City of Belleville has received $5 million in hosting fees and these events are a good indication of what they are able to achieve together.

Mayor Panciuk said they are working on making better changes for the positive.

Since forming the partnership, the City has been able to make street and roadway improvements (shave and paving, surface treatments), do a Quinte Exhibition Area Planning Servicing Study, replace police vehicles, provide specialized aerial ladder and truck chassis for fire department, purchase City gateway signage and Belleville signature sign, provide public wi-fi on the waterfront trail, offer a water refilling station, do Victoria Park docks electrical work, improve the Stanley Park playground, widen Bell Blvd. and create waterfront shops with the funds.