Town of Innisfil awarded grant to support community food security efforts

Innisfil, ON – The holidays came early for the Town of Innisfil! The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group has awarded the Town’s Health and Wellness department a $28,561 grant to support the community’s ongoing efforts to address local food insecurity. The Town will utilize the funds to host a food security forum, implement an eight-month community learning series with accessible programs, and establish a coalition of partners to advance and sustain community food security initiatives.

This grant is part of The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group’s L.E.A.F. (Learning Engagement & Accelerator Fund). The company invited community groups from across Eastern, Central and Western Ontario to apply for a total of $300,000 in grants that focus on learning and building the skills and capacity of local communities.

“We are grateful to The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group for supporting our community with this grant,” says Mayor Lynn Dollin. “We are excited for the opportunity to work alongside our passionate residents, community organizations, and local businesses to achieve our collective goal of ensuring no one in Innisfil goes without food.”

A step beyond typical funding, The Commonwell’s L.E.A.F. is supporting community projects that focus on learning new skills and building resiliency and capacity for the long-term health of the communities.

“We had almost 100 applications and they were all worthy of supporting. Making the selection was difficult, but we feel the 2022 L.E.A.F. grant recipients represent a very impressive range of community causes that will result in a long-term community investment by funding the sharing of knowledge,” says Tim Shauf, President and CEO of The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group. “We are excited to see these programs and initiatives across Commonwell Country come to life and serve the people and communities for years to come.”

The Town of Innisfil has been promoting food security and access since 2019 by developing a Community Health and Wellness Strategy, building the Horodynsky Community Kitchen in the Rizzardo Health and Wellness Centre, establishing three Troy Scott Community Fridges, and facilitating accessible community programming that enables residents to learn about and access nutritious food. In 2021, the Town received $15,000 from The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group’s inaugural L.E.A.F. grant to help implement community cooking programs that built participants’ food skills and prepared food for the Troy Scott Community Fridges.

Learn more about the Town of Innisfil’s health and wellness efforts at innisfil.ca/healthandwellness.

About The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group

Established January 1, 2014, The Commonwell is a merger of three longstanding mutual insurance companies built on more than a century of hands-on commitment to the local communities it serves. Since its founding eight years ago, The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group operates on the same historical premise as its three legacy companies—maintaining a focus on local presence and service that builds strong long-term relationships to benefit the greater community. You can learn more in the first annual Care To Grow Impact Report 2022.