NEWS AND EVENTS
2026 Community Grant Recipients
In January, PDCF distributed a record $600,000 in Community Grants to over 40 local organizations. This total includes all 2026 one- and two-year grants as well as the second-year installments of our 2025 two-year grants. We are grateful to all donors who make this possible. When the generosity of many is brought together, we grow and strengthen community so that everyone belongs and thrives.
If you would like to help community organizations and projects like the ones below, please click the button below to donate to the PDCF Community Granting Fund.
Scroll down to see a full list of 2026 grant recipients. Click on an organization’s name to read about their work.
One-Year Grant Recipients
This grant will cover upgrades to attic insulation at the Althorpe Bolingbroke Community Hall, including asbestos remediation. The hall is a social focal point for the surrounding rural community and serves 500 users annually, mainly seniors.
The Bright Strings Fiddle Orchestra will purchase six full size Eastman Violins to add to their instrument lending library, as well as an iPad Pro to support the recording, arranging, storage and dissemination of music by students and conductor.
Located in Tay Valley Township, the Easter Seal’s Camp Merrywood is an accessible, overnight summer camp designed specifically for children, youth and adults with physical disabilities. This grant will help the Easter Seals to host more campers in 2026.
A partnership between Carebridge Community Support and Community Housing Initiative Perth (CHIP), this project will help tenants of a new affordable housing project build a strong foundation for long-term housing success and belonging by combining volunteer support and advocacy, basic needs assistance, and community engagement
The Youth Housing First Mentorship & Support Program at Cornerstone Landing Youth Services provides immediate, stable housing for youth aged 18-24 experiencing or at risk of homelessness in Lanark County.
The Perth FireDawgs will continue to offer free skating and swimming opportunities to local families, as well as youth ball and recreational hockey programs. This grant also covers expenses related to the organization’s legal incorporation.
Food for Thought programs provide students in 11 local schools with nutritious meals and hearty snacks to maximize learning potential and aid with healthy development. This grant covers an update to their branding and marketing materials.
In partnership with the Small Change Fund, the Friends of Lanark Highlands will use this funding to retain legal and professional support in their efforts to protect the groundwater and wetlands of Barbers Lake and Long Sault Creek.
The Friends of the Tay Watershed will modernize their website, which serves as a notice board for activities, issues and developments in the Tay watershed. Their website has been an important community source of information since 2005.
This grant helps Highlands North Network reach more people, recruit more leaders and advocate for sustainable support for community-based social health initiatives. HNN serves seniors in the small hamlets of the northern Lanark Highlands.
Lanark Basic Income Network will undertake a coordinated social media initiative to engage new audiences across Lanark County, expanding public understanding of basic income as a proven tool for community wellbeing and resilience.
This grant helps fund the Perseverance Pantry at Lanark County Interval House, which provides women and children in transition access to groceries, toiletries and household items as they recover and cope with rising living expenses.
The Lanark Highlands Waste Committee will promote backyard composting to all Highlands residents through the sale of subsidized compost bins. Volunteers will offer practical support to increase participation and success rates.
The Maple Grove Elementary School Council is purchasing books and activities for their recess club.
The kitchen at the McDonald’s Corners Agricultural Society hall will be upgraded in their quest to be designated and emergency shelter.
MERA will produce a mid-summer fair for families and children of all ages. “Soaring through Summer – a Celebration of Flight” aims to introduce the schoolhouse to a new generation through multiple workshops and a full-day festival of flight!
Participants can take natural dying and weaving workshops at the Middleville and District Museum through the programming they will offer with their PDCF Community Grant.
The Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust will be purchasing specialized land mapping software with their PDCF Community Grant.
PEP Seniors Therapeutic Centre will continue to offer their exercise, mobility and physio programs to clients.
Perth and District Union Library will be running two separate programs with two grants. Safer Together is a weekly art program for teens that will give them space to connect and talk about issues they face. Psychological First Aid workshops will help frontline workers recognize and support issues requiring psychological firs aid.
With the support of the Town of Perth, the Friends of the Perth Dog Park at Darou Farm will continue to build infrastructure to make community-building with dogs and people more enjoyable!
Perth Chamber of Commerce is going to be bringing more entertainment to the streets for the Festival of the Maples 50th Anniversary.
In partnership with the Town of Perth, the Perth Tay Tennis Club will have a permanent tennis practice backboard installed at the Conlon Farm tennis courts. This improvement will allow players to practice at anytime, without needing a partner.
Publicly funded mental health services can be hard to access due to long wait times. Pivotal Help helps bridge the gap by providing immediate access to services for those in need. This grant funds access for 10 local youth.
Project Trauma Support will offer two workshops for local first responders to equip them with the psychological tools to deal with operational stress and help them recognize when they or their colleagues may benefit from professional help.
Scientists in School wants to make science accessible, engaging and inclusive for all children. In 2026, they will deliver 15 free STEM workshops in classrooms and public libraries within PDCF’s catchment area.
TheSt John Catholic High School’s drama program has big dreams for its student actors. A new professional grade lighting system will bring theatre into the spotlight this year.
The Stewart Park Festival will bring back the Wendy Laut stage featuring local and up-and-coming artists this summer with their grant from PDCF.
Upgraded stage lightening is on its way to Studio Theatre Perth productions thanks to the grant they are receiving.
Tay Valley Township’s Diners Club brings residents together in community over healthy meals where they can nourish themselves through good food and good company.
Watsons Corners Community Hall in Lanark Highlands will build a much-needed storage shed with their PDCF Community Grant this year.
Two-Year Grant Recipients (2026-2028)
Local community members with a modest income can have their income tax returns prepared and e-filed by a trained, skilled and registered volunteers through Connectwell’s Volunteer Income Tax Program.
Lanark Highlands Public Library will be offering a Little Builders Program for young children that will give them hands on learning about the trades.
Local Grade 8 students will learn about the importance of respecting and conserving fresh water sources through a program developed by Perth-based Watersheds Canada.
Patients and visitors at the Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital will have books to read and games to play thanks to the Patient Pastime Library created by Friends of the Smiths Falls Public Library.
Over the next two years, Lanark County Community Justice will train group facilitators and offer several in-person and on-line Triple P Parenting of teens and pre-teens education sessions for parents, caregivers and legal guardians who are struggling to support the teenagers in their lives. These sessions help parents and caregivers reduce family conflict, learn new skills to improve their relationships, and help teens cope with the long-term impact of COVID-19, including anxiety and other mental health challenges. LCCJ will also provide referrals to other programs and services as needed.
YAK Youth Services has received a 2-year grant to support the work of the executive director.
Two-Year Grant Recipients (2025-2027)
In 2023, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lanark County served 323 children and youth in Lanark County. In 2024, that number was 512. However, in the Perth area 75 kids were served in 2023; this year: 26. Big Brothers Big Sisters will undertake a multi-pronged, concerted effort over the next two years to recruit volunteers in the Perth area where the number of children served is declining. The strategy includes a radio campaign, media interviews, building more and deeper relationships with service clubs and other groups, and hosting the annual volunteer appreciation event in Perth to garner attention for the work of the agency.
Climate Network Lanark is at a turning point. To continue, to develop and grow, and to take on more of the needs expressed by our community to address local climate issues, they must develop their capacity and financial support. With their grant, CNL will undertake a two-year project to investigate, evaluate, and develop a growth plan and implement it. Entitled: CNL Building Impact and Sustainability, their project will focus on strategies and approaches to funding, with emphasis on individual donor funding.
Following the guidelines of Ontario’s Journey to Belonging, ConnectWell Community Health Therapeutic Riding Program will expand the Horse Buddies Program, which showcases resilience by bringing marginalized, low-income disabled folks to the farm for empowerment, fresh air, exercise, and a can-do approach to healthy outdoor time. This program was piloted in conjunction with Lanark County Mental Health in 2020 and had terrific results.
Over the next two years, Lanark County Community Justice will train group facilitators and offer several in-person and on-line Triple P Parenting of teens and pre-teens education sessions for parents, caregivers and legal guardians who are struggling to support the teenagers in their lives. These sessions help parents and caregivers reduce family conflict, learn new skills to improve their relationships, and help teens cope with the long-term impact of COVID-19, including anxiety and other mental health challenges. LCCJ will also provide referrals to other programs and services as needed.
In our rural and small town of Perth we are experiencing changing demographics with exposure to new cultures. The Table Community Food Centre will promote awareness, connection, and understanding of diverse cultures through monthly food-centered celebrations and a Cultural Food Fair. At the monthly celebrations menus will be planned with local representatives of the culture. Information sheets, decorations, recipes, and presentations will further enhance the learning and celebration. In response to community interest, the Cultural Food Fair will be coordinated by a committee including representatives from the Town of Perth, Local Immigration Partnership, and Lanark County.