Each year, arts and cultural organizations around the province receive substantial grant funding to assist them with their expenses.
When the funding comes in as planned, everyone involved is happy, but incidents in recent years have made provincial grant funding a little less certain.
The latest incident involves the Summerland Exhibition Association and its provincial gaming grant.
This year’s grant, for $17,000, was recently announced, just over three months before the Summerland Fall Fair.
The grant accounts for roughly one-quarter of the fair’s budget and the money is needed to pay for deposits in preparation for the September festival.
Since planning takes place many months in advance, money is needed as soon as possible.
To further add to the stress level for organizers, earlier, there were questions about whether the grant money would arrive at all.
Last year, a similar story played out as the Summerland Community Arts Council’s grant funding was uncertain.
In both cases, the funding has become an important part of each organization’s operating budget.
Ideally, grants should go for extras, not for day-to-day operations.
Any organization balancing its books on grant funds is in a precarious position.
If the funding is cut back or eliminated entirely, the organization will have to scramble to find money elsewhere.
We want to see the Fall Fair and the Arts Council both continue. At present, that will involve money in the form of grants.
In the future, however, we need to find a better way to ensure these and other arts and culture organizations receive the money they need.
There are no guarantees the grant sources will be available in the future.
— Summerland Review