In September, Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities announced an $8 million sport relief fund to help sport and recreation organizations continue to deliver programming in 2020 and beyond.

As you may be aware, many community organizations have shut their doors due to the financial burden created by COVID-19, including lost revenue and increased program costs.   Oakville Gymnastics Club has experienced the impact of the pandemic first-hand.

We recently received confirmation that we are amongst 668 sport and recreation organizations nationally to be provided with grant support through Jumpstart’s Sport Relief Fund. We are beyond grateful to receive this news and know how positive an impact it will have on sport and recreation organizations, and ultimately, on kids across the country.

With Jumpstart’s support, we’ll be able to purchase the necessary materials in order to build a barrier to subdivide our large gymnastics gym into smaller rooms.  By creating separate partitioned rooms, we can increase our capacity to provide safe spaces for more kids to swing, tumble and bounce.  Along with much needed PPE for staff, we will also be able to purchase much needed additional disinfectants and sanitizers to keep our equipment and high touch surfaces clean.   As the winter months approach funds from Jumpstart will also allow us to winterize the additional entrances and exits we now use in order to keep our cohorts separated when attending the gym club.  Jumpstart is allowing us to keep our doors open, our gymnasts safe and our coaches protected during these uncertain times.

Author: Oakville Gym