Canadian ICMIF member The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group recently announced a philanthropy initiative that aims to grow community resiliency and capacity throughout Ontario and help them bounce back from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

To kick-start and re-energise learning, education and engagement in these communities, the mutual insurance company is pledging up to CAD 1 million to fund community-led initiatives where it operates, through their new L.E.A.F. (Learning and Engagement Accelerator Fund). The fund can be used to help upgrade, update and even build new facilities or programming where communities come together to learn, share, play and gather.

Up to CAD 1 million will be awarded in grants to distribute to qualifying community projects throughout “Commonwell Country”: the smaller places and wide open spaces of eastern, central and western Ontario. Each chosen project will receive dollar amounts ranging from CAD 15,000 to CAD 100,000 depending on the amount requested in the application process.

“One of the many ways that COVID continues to hit our Ontario communities has been in shrinking donations and budgets for community programs, it’s been all hands on deck to deal with COVID, so non-essential programs have been dramatically cut,” says Tim Shauf, President and CEO of The Commonwell Mutual.

“We decided our program could address this shortfall and make sure that important community programs and places in Commonwell Country continue to thrive. Now it’s up to the residents of these communities to tell us what needs to be funded, and we have one million dollars available to make it happen.” he added.

Last year, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Commonwell launched an innovative initiative “Pay It Forward”, where every member-policyholder was sent CAD 100 to ease personal financial pressure or donate to others in need in their community. The company paid CAD 8.4 million as part of its COVID-19 Member Response Plan, which also included a refocus for its company’s community support program, C.A.R.E. (Create a Ripple Effect) that provided more than 120,000 nutritious meals to help the urgent needs of frontline workers and local food banks.

To learn more about how the L.E.A.F. initiative works or to see examples some of the community projects, click here.