COVID-19 has forced some local groups to put a new twist on their plans for city funds.
Each year the City of New Westminster provides grants to a wide range of community organizations, including some that organize festivals and events. Because of the restrictions on mass gatherings, sponsorship challenges and other issues, some organizations that applied for grants are no longer able to host the events they were initially planning for 2020.
The city recently contacted grant recipients to find out if they were planning to continue as planned, postpone, cancel or request to repurpose their grant.
A staff report states that the vast majority (54 out of 93) of applicants plan to continue with the initiatives they originally proposed. This includes: the Arts Council of New Westminster (ongoing operations and programming); Seniors Services Society (Meals on Wheels service and services such as grocery shopping and transportation programs); the Massey Theatre Society; New Westminster Victim Assistance Association (management of the victim services program); and Tourism New West.
Fourteen grantees have chosen to postpone their events until the fall – with the hope that COVID-19 restrictions will no longer be in place. These include grants to the Downtown New West BIA (Fridays on Front) and New Westminster Family Place (drop-in centre.)
Because of COVID-19, 14 grant recipients decided to cancel their event or project. These include the Hyack Festival Association’s Canada Day fireworks, Uptown Live, the Downtown BIA’s Columbia StrEAT Food Truck Fest, the Hyack International Parade, the Hyack Anvil Battery salute on Victoria Day, the New Westminster Multicultural Festival, the Queensborough Children’s Festival and May Day.
A dozen grant recipients told the city they’d like to repurpose their grants for a different use. Some examples of organizations that will be using the funds in new ways include:
*New West Pride, which usually hosts a week of LGBTQ+ events, will put the money toward Global Pride. Through this new initiative, the society plans on transitioning its annual street festival online, leveraging international efforts to celebrate Pride in the summer and addressing social isolation in the community by developing an online lounge for gathering.
*City Stage New West will use money previously planned for the Scripts ‘n’ Sips reading series for a special online presentation of the Stump City Stories musical during the week of Canada Day, along with a pre‐show live‐Zoomed commentary.
*Instead of projects to activate public spaces in the neighbourhood, the Downtown New Westminster BIA will put its grant toward a #togethernewwest campaign, which would use window decorations to highlight messages of hope and encouragement in the community.
*If the New West Film Society is unable to hold its annual film festival in September, it hopes to put its grant toward an online festival.
*Recovery Days, a one-day street festival to support recovery, will repurpose its funds to turn the event into a virtual celebration with online performers based in the Anvil Centre.
