Every year both the City and Township of Langley give grants to non-profit societies for projects and events that have a hopefully positive impact in the community. In 2013, the Township of Langley plans to give out $353,750 worth of grants (see page 68), and the City of Langley gave out grants totalling $150,000.00.
In the City of Langley, the largest recipient of a community grant was the Good Times Cruise-In with $17,176 of in-kind services donated from the City. The largest recipients of cash donations from the City of Langley was the Backlock Fine Arts Elementary School PAC, Boys & Girls Club of South Coast BC, and Special Olympics of BC which each received $10,000. While the Township of Langley list what each organization plans to do with their grant, I could not find this information on the City of Langley’s website. It would be good to have this information online as it would not only provide needed transparency, but also allow people to see how the grants could improve the community.
While the City of Langley only has one grant program, the Township of Langley has 7 grant programs. The first grant program is for community hall capital improvement projects. The Township plans to give $69,600 for community hall capital projects in 2013.
The Township of Langley also has two community grant programs that top out at $2,500 per recipient: the general grant program which is similar to the City’s grant program, and a dry grad grant program. The Township also has a larger grant program for major festivals which this year will include the Aldergrove Fair Days, the Fort Langley Cranberry Festival, Langley’s Canada Day Celebration, and the Langley International Festival.
The Township of Langley will be providing $16,500 to the Aldergrove, Brookswood, and Fort Langley Business Improvement Associations to purchase, install, and maintain the banner that you see on light standards and utility poles in those community's commercial areas.
As part of the overall grant program, the Township of Langley also plans to give out $17,000 worth of scholarships in 2013.
The final grant program in the Township is called “Nothing without Effort” which is a matching grant that community resident organizations and associations can apply for to implement small community-based projects, activities and celebration in partnership with the Township of Langley. From what I can find, this $35,000 grant program has not funded a single project since it was starting in 2011. While this grant is a great idea on paper, I wonder if this money would be better used in the other Township of Langley grant programs.
The Township of Langley has grant criteria that all organization must pass to be eligible to receive funding. The only exception that council made in the 2013 grant cycle was for the Critter Care Wildlife Society which will receive $7,500 to help fund the installation of a new 400 amp power service.
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