The Grey Cup Festival Legacy Grant Program should provide wide benefits for successful applicants.
The 2022 Grey Cup Festival may be just a memory, but its impact is still being felt across Saskatchewan.
Funds from the grants can be used for infrastructure programs as well as program costs. Jonathan Huntington, co-chair of the festival’s provincial outreach committee, expects to have a “significant” number of applications.
You are reading: Roughriders launch Grey Cup Festival Legacy Grant Program
Huntington said as part of the CFL team’s commitment to truth and reconciliation, particular attention will be paid to applications with an Indigenous engagement plan.
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“An Indigenous community could step forward and ask for funding for sports equipment, a new sports facility or enhancing one,” Huntington said. “Another option could be a Saskatchewan disability or a charitable organization that has a mental health program that they need more dollars and we’ll consider that too.”
“We always earmarked at the beginning of the Grey Cup that we would take part of that 50/50 and put it towards this legacy grant,” Huntington said.
Imagination and creativity will be recognized when the Riders are studying the applications.
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“We know it’s going to be competitive,” Huntington said. “We know that this money is hard to find so we expect communities to pull out all the stops.”
The Grey Cup Legacy Project was established after the Regina-based 2013 Grey Cup Festival where Old Mosaic Stadium was expanded to 45,000 seats for the Grey Cup game. Sports and arts groups repurposed the approximately 6,000 temporary seats from the north and south end zones after the stadium was torn down.
“The difference is this one is much more mental health focused,” Huntington said. “If you look back to 2013, we weren’t sitting on this stage talking about mental health. There’s a significant need in the community for mental health and I applaud the Riders for that. The Riders are starting to come out with their players to different schools tied to the Riders foundation.
“There is no doubt that there are different segments of this population that still aren’t even talking about mental health. So one of the great parts of this program is communities that apply for dollars will likely tie them to a mental health program.”
