Foundation grants $520,000 to seven Sarnia-area projects

A section of popular walking trail at Sarnia’s Wawanosh Wetlands Conservation Area will be improved this year with help from the Judith & Norman Alix Foundation.

Article content

The trail is one of three projects the St. Clair Region Conservation Area will fund with $172,500 from the foundation, part of a recently announced, nearly $520,000 package of grants to seven local organizations.

Article content

The authority also plans to use foundation funding to create a new trail and replace a children’s playground at Warwick Conservation Area.

“We’re delighted to have the foundation’s support,” said Greg Wilcox, the authority’s conservation areas manager. “. . . These are projects that wouldn’t be going forward without their funding.”

At Wawanosh, on Blackwell Sideroad, a roughly 2,000-meter southern section of its walking trail is to be upgraded late this summer to a two-meter-wide compact stone dust surface, Wilcox said.

Article content

That trail now has a “natural surface” that is often “quite muddy and slippery,” he said.

The project will improve the southern trail’s accessibility with “a more level, stable trail surface,” corresponding Ontario Trillium Foundation-funded improvements to the site’s northern trail loop a few years ago, Wilcox said.

“There were occasions where we had to close (the southern) trail due to the site conditions,” he said.

The improved southern section should be able to stay open year-round, Wilcox said.

“It’s a very well used trail and I think it will be more well used when the site conditions don’t restrict people’s access,” he added,

At Warwick, the funding will go to create a new 500-meter stone dust trail this fall, and replace an aging playground in poor condition with a natural playground, he said.

Article content

The new playground, made of logs and other natural materials, will encourage children “to have interactive play with natural elements and use their imaginations” while gaining an appreciation for nature, Wilcox said.

The foundation also granted $98,152 to St. Joseph’s Hospice for renovations to its 10-bed residence and resource center.

“We are incredibly grateful to you. . . foundation for their generous support,” hospice executive director Kelly Chartrand said in a statement. “This funding will significantly enhance our facilities, allowing us to continue providing exceptional care in a safe and comforting environment.”

The foundation’s grant completes fundraising began more than three years ago, hospice said.

Article content

The work will include renovations of all 10 suites, an office, great room, dinette and nursing station at the residence, and improved medication room access controls. It will also create two new offices and relocate a kitchenette in the resource center.

Over its 30-year history, the Judith & Norman Alix Foundation has granted more than $6 million to projects in Lambton County.

[email protected]

OTHER GRANT RECIPIENTS

Other recipients included in nearly $520,000 package of grants announced recently by the Judith & Norman Alix Foundation are:

Lambton Centre: $100,000 for a new meeting house and multipurpose gathering space.

YMCA of Southwestern Ontario: $60,000 for a new pavilion at the Jerry McCaw Family Center in Sarnia.

Forest Food Bank: $65,000 for renovations to its new location at Contact House.

Moore Agricultural Society: $18,500 for accessibility upgrades to the Junior Fair Building at the Brigden Fairgrounds.

March of Dimes: $5,000 or renovations and repairs to the Standing Oaks residential facility in Sarnia.

Article content