SUMMARY—At last night’s AGM, the PEI Military Family Resource Centre handed out $30,000 in funding from True Patriot Love to military and Veteran families to send children to camp this summer.
For immediate release
(CHARLOTTETOWN, PE) In addition to the updates and information typical for an organization’s AGM, the PEI Military Family Resource Centre (PEI MFRC) got to spread a little joy to their members at their June 8th meeting. Thanks to a generous donation of $30,000 from True Patriot Love, 56 children from military and Veteran families across PEI will be able to attend camp this summer. This funding was presented to family’s during the AGM.
Recognizing that military families make many sacrifices to allow for their military member’s work schedule and lifestyle, part of True Patriot Love’s mandate is to raise awareness around the challenges of service. The national organization funds programs for service members, Veterans, and their families that support their well-being, enable rehabilitation and recovery from injury, assist the children and spouses of those who serve, and promote re-integration into communities following service.
Leona Conrick is the Executive Director of the PEI MFRC, a non-profit committed to ensuring that military and Veteran families residing in Prince Edward Island thrive and feel supported. She says that the True Patriot Love Foundation’s Summer Camp fund will go a long way to spread smiles to families who have found the past year extra challenging because of the pandemic.
“Military families experience a lifestyle that can be uniquely challenging for families—even here on PEI,” she says. “Frequent absences and long work hours often mean less time for fun, family activities. This past year, like many non-military families, our families also had a lot of uncertainties to deal with. But aside from the evolving COVID situation and all the stresses that the pandemic brought, our military families also faced uncertain work arrangements, frequent changing of plans as the border opened and closed, and a constant state of alert, as members stood ready to assist in local, regional, and national COVID efforts.”
Conrick added that military children can pick up on these feelings of anxiety and that the PEI MFRC has a registered social worker on staff available to all military families.
This is the third year that the PEI MFRC has received funding from True Patriot Love Foundation to send military children to camp. Last year, due to COVID-19, the organization did not receive funding and was not able to assist in summer camp financing.
“It may not seem like a lot—sending children to camp,” states Leona, “but, over the years, we’ve learned how valuable it is for children to just be children. To play and forget about all the stresses and uncertainties of life, and the reality is that our members do face above-average stresses. We’re so grateful to True Patriot Love for this funding so we can help our members in this way.”
A total of 37 families across PEI will benefit from this funding.
To learn more about the PEI Military Family Resource Centre, visit CAFconnection.ca/PEI.
To learn more about True Patriot Love Foundation, visit truepatriotlove.com
