Congratulations to the Winners of the 2016 Aviva Community Fund!

From coast to coast, innovative and ambitious Canadians work on a daily basis to make a difference in their communities.

To help encourage and support these changemakers, the Aviva Community Fund supports bright ideas by funding projects making an enormous impact in local communities across the country.

Aviva Canada invests in positive change through the Aviva Community Fund, Canada’s longest running online community funding competition, which has awarded $7.5 million to over 250 charities and community groups nationwide since its inception in 2009. Aviva Canada is one of the leading property and casualty insurance groups in the country, providing home, automobile, leisure/lifestyle and business insurance to more than three million customers.

As a proud partner of the 2016 Aviva Community Fund, CanadaHelps is thrilled to tell the stories of the winning charities. Their stories are inspiring, impactful, and a true tale of how average Canadians can come together to make a difference. On top of that, we’re also excited to offer our services to winning charities of the 2016 Aviva Community Fund, free for one year, to further support their incredible work.

Representative of different causes tackling an array of issues or ways to help others, more than 450 projects were submitted for a chance to win a portion of the $1 million in funding up for grabs as part of the 2016 Aviva Community Fund. A nationwide voting period open to all Canadians narrowed down the top 30 projects  in each  idea category, which included community resilience, community health and community development. A panel of judges then selected the 13 grand prize winners.

From a family’s mission to remember their son and help families affected by cancer, to a non-profit organization uniting the community through healthy foods, we’re proud to feature each of the inspiring stories behind the winning charities of the 2016 Aviva Community Fund listed below:

• A Kitchen Building Community by the Dartmouth North Community Food Centre
• Impact Grows in Grey Bruce by the Canadian Mental Health Association Grey Bruce
• Building Jessica’s House by the South Huron Hospital Foundation
• Caleb’s Courage: The Story of a Brave Little SUPERHERO and His Lasting Legacy by Nicole Forgeron
• Harvesting Hope by Harvest House Atlantic
• Hope Starts at the HUB by First United Church Community Ministry Society
• Sealing the Cracks on Poverty and Homelessness by Harvest House Woodstock

To learn more about the other grand prize winners, check out the list below:

• I Am Awesome! (And I Know It!) Self-Esteem Retreat
• Sacred Heart Academy Playspace with Heart Project by the Sacred Heart Academy Foundation
• Pathway to Progress – Building a Resilient Futur by the Tecumseh Vista Academy Parent Council
• Bashaw – A Place for Everyone by the Bashaw School Enhancement Committee

To learn more about the Aviva Community Fund, please visit avivacommunityfund.org.