May 13, 2021, Burlington, Ontario: Halton Catholic Children’s Foundation (HCCF) has announced it will be offering $5,000 in bursaries to Halton Catholic District School Board (HCDSB) graduating students as part of HCCF’s new three-year strategic plan to double the number of students being helped by 2024 – the Halton Catholic Children’s Foundation Graduate Award.

8.2%* of Halton’s community lives below the poverty line – and this number is higher within specific groups such as women (8.6%), visible minorities (14.4%), single mothers (19%), and newcomers (28.4%). Poverty is a barrier to learning success for a variety of reasons, but HCCF believes every child deserves the opportunity to succeed. This includes students graduating from HCDSB secondary schools and enrolling in post-secondary education.

“Since 2012, Halton Catholic Children’s Foundation (HCCF) has been working to provide funding to those children and families in need in Halton’s Catholic Community – creating Hope, Dignity and Equity,” says Marc Clare, Executive Director of HCCF. “There are few things more important than accessible education. At HCCF, we strive to help with this by providing financial assistance to students in need, and we are thrilled to offer the HCCF Graduate Award so we can continue to help HCDSB students with financial barriers to success.”

The Halton Catholic Children’s Foundation Graduate Award, will offer $5,000 in bursaries. HCCF is giving ten $500 Awards to graduating students from each HCDSB secondary school, who are entering post-secondary education. Each school will select a graduating student who excels in the Ontario Catholic Graduate Expectations, are entering post-secondary education, including the trades, certificate programs, college, or university, and demonstrate a financial need to pursue post-secondary education.

“On behalf of the HCCF Allocations Committee, we are excited to launch the Halton Catholic Children’s Foundation (HCCF) Graduate Award this spring.”, says James McInnis, HCCF Director & Chair of the Allocations Committee. “Through our student bursary initiative, we hope to continue to increase the number of students that we support financially each year, including our graduating students as they pursue post-secondary education opportunities. We look forward to recognizing the successful recipients of the HCCF Graduate Award in June and wish these candidates all the best with their future endeavors.”

For more information about HCCF, to make an online donation, or to find other ways to give to HCCF, please visit www.hccf.ca

*Source: https://cdhalton.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Our-Halton-2018-Income-Inequality-and-Poverty.pdf

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About Halton Catholic Children’s Foundation (HCCF)

The Halton Catholic Children’s Foundation (HCCF) is an independent charity that has partnered with the Halton Catholic District School Board (HCDSB) to support their students and families in need. HCCF raises funds to help HCDSB students overcome financial barriers to learning, which helps these students succeed in school.

We raise funds to help cover costs for:

• Basic necessities, such as food and clothing, school supplies, shoes, eyeglasses, personal hygiene items, and learning technology
• School activities with a fee, such as school trips, team fees, and other learning materials

The HCCF Three Year Strategic Plan

Hear more about HCCF’s Mission and Vision and the new Strategic Plan by watching the videos from:

• Bishop Douglas Crosby, Diocese of Hamilton
• HCCF Chair, Marvin Duarte
• HCDSB Chair, Patrick Murphy
• HCDSB Director of Education, Pat Daly

Visit our website: www.hccf.ca

Media Contact

Marc Clare

Executive Director, HCCF

c\o 2333 Headon Forest Drive

Burlington, ON  L7M 3X6

905-802-0918

clarema@hccf.ca