Spring 2021 Grant Results

Spring 2021 Grant Results

Our team at the CGFC is pleased to announce our Spring 2021 Grant Winners.


In this application cycle, we received over 33 applications from across Canada. This cycle really highlighted the need for resources for grieving children in Canada. 


We are delighted to fund three projects across Canada.


Congratulations to Palliative Manitoba, Gilda’s Club Greater Toronto and The Community Care Foundation on your successful projects!


Thank you to all of our wonderful donors for providing financial support to projects that will benefit hundreds of children in Canada

Kids & Teens Grieve Too Group Facilitator Training Program French Translation​

Kids Grieve Too and Teens Grieve Too groups help children and youth address grief that accompanies a death and provides them with tools to deal with future emotions. In these programs, participants take part in different activities, while parents and guardians are offered support in another group setting. Both programs run for 6 weeks and offer a grief support group for parents and guardians as well. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a greater need for age-appropriate peer grief support. Palliative Manitoba has understood this and created a training program for professionals in the industry to learn how to facilitate support groups in their own communities in Manitoba. The program will allow children all across Manitoba (including many rural areas) to access support, work through their grief and gain the tools needed to successfully handle future losses in a constructive, healing manner. The training program will also be translated in French, so it can reach and support more Manitoba families.

Kids Grieve Too

Kids Grieve Too is a therapeutic and educational support group for children ages 4-12 who have a family member who has died from cancer. Using an evidence-based curriculum, children are able to explore emotions, fears and connect with a community of peers with shared experiences around the loss of a family member from cancer. The program explores the many misconceptions children have around cancer/death, provides education, coping tools and skills, as well as empowers children by normalizing their feelings and experiences of grief. In order to engage the children online, children will receive a package mailed to their home full of therapeutic program supplies, which will be utilized during the weekly support group sessions. Supplies will include art-based activities and materials which will promote self-expression, emotional intelligence and effective coping strategies. Parents and caregivers will also be provided resources that help foster a further dialog at home and assist with promoting healthy coping strategies and maintaining connections within the family home.

The Standing Together and Receiving Support (STARS) Family Program

The death of a loved one is one of the most devastating life experiences for children. It disrupts a developmental path and can have long-term negative psychological consequences. The Standing Alone and Receiving Support (STARS) Family Program is a 1 hour per week, virtual grief support group for children and youth in the City of Kawartha Lakes. The objective of STARS provide a safe, supportive virtual space for children to express their grief, and learn about the grief journey. The program runs 4 times per year in 8-week sessions. The STARs program will focus on art and play through activities exploring what is life and death, preparing for special memory days, how to interact with big feelings, finding support and supportive people, calming exercises and moving forward with a new self-identity. It will also include discussions of pandemic grief. Children participating in the program will receive kits of handouts, art materials, journals and tactile items to engage in the program. Parents or caregivers will receive letters with tips on how to talk to their child and engage in the activities.