Niagara Community Foundation (NCF) has hit a new milestone, granting $1 million through the David S. Howes Fund alone. This announcement comes alongside NCF’s dispersal of its spring granting programs, including Summer Camp and Spring Mini Grants awarding $1,065,362 in total to registered charities across Niagara.
The $1 million dispersal brings the total impact of the David S. Howes Fund over $6 million, supporting over 125 projects in the last eight years.
“When the David S. Howes Fund was established in 2017, we knew it would be transformational for Niagara,” says Bryan Rose, Executive Director with NCF. “Reaching one million in dispersal for one granting stream a significant milestone for us. It is a testament to David’s ongoing legacy in Niagara.”
The David S. Howes Fund was established in 2017 with one of Niagara’s largest donations to date, of $19 million from the David S. Howes Foundation. This fund supports six priority areas including post-secondary, health-care services, education, facilities, research, and humanitarian issues. Each spring, registered charities can apply for funding under one of the priority areas.
A full listing of all spring grants can be found below:
- 19 David S. Howes Fund Grants =$1,000,000
- 12 Mini Spring Grants = $25,772
- 22 Summer Camp Grants = $39,590 (303 kids supported)
- TOTAL= $1,065,362
2025 David S. Howes Fund Grants
ORGANIZATION | GRANTS | PROJECT SUMMARY |
| Boys and Girls Club of Niagara | $17,000.00 | Support immediate and planned capital needs at the St. Catharines facility, including kitchen and exterior door replacements, and updates to internal doors and the exterior fence to maintain safety, functionality, and compliance. |
| Brock University | $110,000.00 | Purchase equipment to support simulated learning that is needed to transition from student to nurse, ultimately helping address health-care sector labour shortages. |
| City of St. Catharines (Niagara Olympic T&F Club) | $200,000.00 | The NOC track requires a surface upgrade as the current surface is at end of serviceable life. The surface replacement will allow the facility to continue to play a major role in healthy active living and athletic development in the community. |
| Community Living Welland Pelham | $24,000.00 | Support program that works in combination with community partners to provide inclusive literacy and mathematics support for children and youth in our local community. |
| Grimsby Auxiliary Marine Rescue Unit o/a South Shore Search And Rescue | $20,000.00 | Support acquisition, installation, testing and crew training of wireless digital voice communication system for use on single-purpose rescue vessel, for accurate communication while protecting volunteers from long-term hearing loss. |
| Habitat for Humanity Niagara | $110,000.00 | Support First Steps at Plymouth, a six-townhome project in Welland, creating affordable homeownership opportunities for families in need that promotes stability, independence, and economic growth, generating $1.2 million in community benefits. |
| Heartland Forest Nature Experience | $32,000.00 | Enhance play environment with a new sidewalk ensuring easy access to park side washrooms and three new shade stations providing all children, regardless of their abilities, safe access to play. |
| Horse Cents for Kids | $30,000.00 | Support update of the barn to become resilient against weather impacts to allow for continued riding and skill building programming for at-risk-youth and those with disabilities. |
| Hotel Dieu Shaver Health & Rehabilitation Foundation | $44,000.00 | Purchase Bioness L300 that will improve rehabilitation for inpatients and outpatients as it aids in recovery from MS, stroke, and injuries, boosting mobility and overall quality of life. |
| Kristen French Child Advocacy Centre Niagara | $22,000.00 | Support Kids First Project that delivers engaging, preventative content to students that is designed to teach how to stay safe on and offline and empowered them to think critically and make choices to reduce their risk of harm. |
| McNally House Hospice | $84,000.00 | Purchase of four cuddle beds for Hospice that will enhance end-of-life care, offering space for loved ones to share meaningful moments and improve accessibility and comfort for bariatric patients, ensuring equitable care. |
| Niagara Children's Centre | $59,000.00 | Support a Recreation Therapy Assistant will expand Recreation Therapy programs to more youth and children with physical, developmental or communicative delays and disabilities in Niagara. |
| Niagara Falls Public Library | $60,000.00 | Support open+ technology that gives Chippawa residents access to their library outside of staffed hours, where members can browse and borrow from the collection, use computers, access wi-fi and enjoy the community space. |
| Niagara Health Foundation - St. Catharines Site | $42,500.00 | Purchase five new Stryker Prime Stretchers and IsoFlex SE Mattresses as part of a larger upgrade of patient beds throughout the Niagara Health System to enhance patient safety and reduce healthcare costs from pressure injuries. |
| Niagara Regional Native Centre | $30,000.00 | Create a fenced, shaded outdoor space with a gazebo and picnic tables providing a safe area for Indigenous children to engage in land-based learning, outdoor play, and cultural programming. |
| Sport Niagara - 2025 Ontario Parasport Games | $25,000.00 | In May 2025, Niagara will welcome athletes, managers, coaches, officials, and volunteers from across Ontario for the 44th Ontario Parasport Games. Between May 30 to June 1, events will be held at sporting facilities across the Niagara region including Canada Games Park and Brock University in Thorold and the Vale Health and Wellness Centre in Port Colborne. |
| Start Me Up Niagara | $16,500.00 | Support Mini Closet that offers 24-hour access to clothing, footwear and hygiene, making these essentials more accessible to those in need as it provides a lifeline that fosters compassion, dignity, and hope—the foundation of human connection. |
| Welland Heritage Council and Multicultural Centre | $40,000.00 | Replace aging appliances and address critical repairs, including installing new windows, fixing a leaking skylight, and adding sliding bathroom doors, ensuring a safe and dignified environment for individuals facing homelessness. |
| YWCA Niagara Region | $34,000.00 | Provide a service protocol to respond to pre and post natal women who enter the shelter system and provide a service map and rapid response for community organizations to better support women. |
TOTAL | $1,000,000 |
2025 Summer Camp Grants
ORGANIZATION | GRANTS |
| Autism Ontario - South Region | $2,000 |
| City of Welland | $2,000 |
| Community Crew | $1,000 |
| Community Living Fort Erie | $2,500 |
| Community Living Port Colborne Wainfleet | $2,500 |
| Community Living Welland Pelham | $2,500 |
| Faith Tabernacle Pentecostal Assembly (Faith Welland Outreach) | $1,500 |
| Femmes du Feu Creations | $1,600 |
| Future Black Female | $1,000 |
| Heartland Forest Nature Experience | $1,650 |
| Kristen French Child Advocacy Centre Niagara | $1,600 |
| Leaning Disabilities Association of Niagara Region | $2,000 |
| Links for Greener Learning | $1,000 |
| Red Roof Retreat | $2,000 |
| The Crystal Ridge Dream Center | $1,000 |
| The Niagara Pumphouse Arts Centre | $1,500 |
| The Town of Lincoln | $1,740 |
| Thorold Community Activities Group | $2,000 |
| Town of Pelham | $2,000 |
| YMCA of Niagara | $3,500 |
| Young Caregivers Association | $2,000 |
TOTAL | $39,590 |
2025 Spring Mini Grants
ORGANIZATION | GRANTS | PROJECT SUMMARY |
| Avanti Chamber Singers | $2,500.00 | Purchase works of living composers, to diversify music library and performances to include more music by Canadian, women and BIPOC composers. |
| Brain Injury Association of Fort Erie | $1,948.00 | Provide staff with tools & techniques to effectively manage & de-escalate challenging behaviors ensuring the safety & dignity of individuals with brain injuries. |
| Essential Collective Theatre Company | $2,500.00 | Create website that will be a community meeting space for artists to share, learn, discuss and showcase their new works. |
| Lincoln Pelham Public Library - Fonthill | $2,500.00 | Purchase English as a Second Language collection that will provide resources to support learning English, including grammar, vocabulary, and writing skills, as well as career-specific materials for fields like healthcare and business. |
| Mountainview CRC | $1,500.00 | Purchase needed equipment to support Tuesday Evening Food Program, addressing the food security needs of those living on the street and provide them with an opportunity to enjoy a warm meal that is nutritiously balanced for healthier living. |
| Niagara College | $2,500.00 | Understand underground habitat of Eastern Red-Backed Salamanders that are essential species: as they support a biodiversity of other creatures and facilitate carbon sequestration in our forests. |
| Niagara-on-the-Lake Public Library | $2,500.00 | Support project that empowers kids in Niagara to explore STEM through hands-on learning and access to new tech tools at the library, supporting digital literacy and community connection |
| Starlight Children's Foundation Canada | $2,500.00 | Purchase portable gaming devices that encourages play, reduces stress, and empowers kids for children while in St. Catharines hospital. |
| The Brown Homestead | $1,988.00 | Purchase portable A/V equipment, to enhance off-site programs and outreach to reach more diverse audiences—ensuring Niagara’s Homestead is shared and experienced by all. |
| The Willow Community Supper Services (Willow Arts Community) | $1,500.00 | Support Exhibition Catalogue that creates a lasting record of art works in the form of a professionally photographed, designed, and printed booklet that celebrates artists living with mental illness/substance use. |
| Wellspring Niagara Cancer Support Foundation | $2,336.00 | Enhancing private program spaces to ensure confidentiality and comfort for cancer support groups and counselling sessions, respecting vulnerable community members' dignity while delivering more effective support services. |
| YMCA of Niagara | $2,500.00 | Provide key day camp staff with enhanced pre-camp training (NVCI) to support the needs and well being of individuals who are in distress and may demonstrate inappropriate or risk behaviours while in the camp environment. |
TOTAL | $25,772.00 |
