Earlier this week, Pine River Institute, Dufferin Child & Family Services and Streams Community Hub each received $3,500, year two of a five-year sustaining grant from the Fund. Due to the urgent need for food security in our community, the Orangeville Food Bank also received $2,500 for the second year in a row.
Knowing that the gift will be sustained over a number of years helps the local charities to make program plans. Here is how each of the charities will be using the grant this year:

Nothing could rain on this… Julie Wood representing the WoodLot Fund (centre) and Dufferin Community Foundation’s Michele Fisher (left) presented cheques to Jennifer Moore, Dufferin Child & Family Services; Heather Hayes, Orangeville Food Bank; Jill Palmer, Pine River Foundation; and Juli-Anne James, Streams Community Hub on April 29th.
Dufferin Child & Family Services (DCAFS) In 2022, a Dufferin Community Foundation grant helped establish an intern program at the DCAFS Talk-in Clinic, allowing them to expand their youth drop-in counselling service by 12 hours/week. The WoodLot Fund grant is being used to continue this valuable program.
Pine River Institute is a live-in treatment centre and accredited education program that helps adolescents struggling with addictions and mental health issues. The WoodLot grant will provide bursaries for parents who don’t live close by to come and visit their children once or twice a year.
Streams Community Hub will be putting the grant to good use in supporting our year-round after school and Summer Camp programs, where children and teens can explore their creativity through a variety of art disciplines, such as musical theatre, textiles, visual arts, baking, digital media, literacy, and STEM programs.
Orangeville Food Bank will use the grant for new gardening initiatives in partnership with the Town of Shelburne and Dufferin OPP. The goal is to build skills and increase access to fresh food through such things as a container gardening workshop for Shelburne residents and a garden plot at the OPP detachment in Orangeville.



“It was especially gratifying to hear directly from each organization what they will use the funds for,” said Julie Wood, who established the WoodLot Fund in 2021 with her husband and children. “This is what makes Dufferin Community Foundation such a great experience as a donor… We see our donation making a difference every year.”
The WoodLot Endowment Fund is a donor-advised fund with Dufferin Community Foundation.
For more information, please contact:
Michele Fisher
Executive Director
michele@dufferincommunityfoundation.ca
519-938-0780