{"id":85176,"date":"2026-07-21T08:32:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T12:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/?p=85176"},"modified":"2026-07-21T08:44:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T12:44:56","slug":"northwestern-ontario-community-support-fund-established","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/21\/northwestern-ontario-community-support-fund-established\/","title":{"rendered":"Northwestern Ontario Community Support Fund Established"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span id=\"timestamp\"><b>Jul 21, 2026 at 08:32<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_85180\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Fundraising-Update.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-85180\" class=\"wp-image-85180 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Fundraising-Update.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"312\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Fundraising-Update.png 600w, https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Fundraising-Update-300x156.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-85180\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Update as of July 20, 16:23.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong><time class=\"updated\" datetime=\"2026-07-17T16:31:11-04:00\">July 17, 2026<\/time><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In response to the devastating wildfires affecting communities across Northwestern Ontario, United Way of Thunder Bay and the Thunder Bay Community Foundation have partnered to establish the <strong>Northwestern Ontario Wildfire Community Support Fund.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The new Fund was created in response to inquiries from individuals, workplaces, organizations, and United Ways across Canada seeking meaningful ways to support communities impacted by the wildfires. The Fund offers a trusted, coordinated way for donors to help meet both the immediate and long-term needs of affected communities, providing coordinated support to front-line agencies and service providers responding to the immediate needs of affected communities, while also investing in longer-term recovery efforts as those communities begin to rebuild.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThe response to the wildfires has demonstrated the strength and compassion of communities across Northwestern Ontario and across Canada,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0says Albert Brul\u00e9, CEO, United Way of Thunder Bay.\u00a0<em>\u201cPeople want to help, and this partnership provides a trusted way to ensure donations are directed where they are needed most\u2014both during the immediate response and throughout the recovery process.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/EvacuationDonations.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-85177\" src=\"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/EvacuationDonations.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"373\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/EvacuationDonations.png 300w, https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/EvacuationDonations-241x300.png 241w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>United Way of Thunder Bay and Thunder Bay Community Foundation will work together to steward the Fund. Funding decisions will be made jointly by the two organizations, informed by ongoing consultation with the City of Thunder Bay Community Support Table, Indigenous organizations, and other community partners. This collaborative approach will help identify emerging needs and ensure support reaches front-line agencies and service providers assisting evacuees and affected communities.<\/p>\n<p>Recognizing that recovery extends well beyond the immediate emergency, <strong>the Fund will support both emergency response initiatives and longer-term recovery and resilience efforts<\/strong>. As community needs evolve, a portion of the Fund will be dedicated to recovery initiatives administered through the Thunder Bay Community Foundation, with both organizations participating in the review and approval of grants.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cDisasters don\u2019t end when the immediate crisis passes,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0says Athena Kreiner, CEO, Thunder Bay Community Foundation.\u00a0<em>\u201cCommunities continue to face challenges long after people return home. By working together, we can help ensure support is available throughout the entire journey\u2014from relief to recovery to resilience.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Individuals, workplaces, service clubs, and organizations wishing to support the Fund can make a secure online donation by visiting:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zeffy.com\/en-CA\/donation-form\/northwestern-ontario-wildfire-community-support-fund\">https:\/\/www.zeffy.com\/en-CA\/donation-form\/northwestern-ontario-wildfire-community-support-fund<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Every donation will help strengthen the network of front-line agencies and service providers supporting wildfire-affected communities across Northwestern Ontario.<\/p>\n<p><strong>About United Way of Thunder Bay<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>United Way of Thunder Bay brings people and organizations together to address complex social issues and create lasting community change. Through strategic investments, partnerships, and community leadership, United Way works to improve lives and build stronger, healthier communities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>About Thunder Bay Community Foundation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Thunder Bay Community Foundation connects donors with community needs by building endowment funds and investing in charitable initiatives that strengthen communities today and for generations to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jul 21, 2026 at 08:32 July 17, 2026 In response to the devastating wildfires affecting communities across Northwestern Ontario, United Way of Thunder Bay and the Thunder Bay Community Foundation have partnered to establish the Northwestern Ontario Wildfire Community Support Fund. The new Fund was created in response to inquiries from individuals, workplaces, organizations, and &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":85177,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76,3408],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-northern-ontario","category-ner-forest-fire-updates"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-28 14:33:51","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85176"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85182,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85176\/revisions\/85182"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}