NEWS RELEASE
EDEN MILLS WRITERS' FESTIVAL
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The Eden Mills Writers’ Festival has initiated a professional fundraising program and celebrated a $71,000 Resilient Communities grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF). The grant has helped the 36-year-old festival hire a fundraising consultant to design a full-year fundraising plan and retain a fundraising coordinator to activate this plan.
“Our thanks go out to Ontario Trillium Foundation for its generous support of the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival,” said Ted Arnott, MPP for Wellington-Halton Hills. “I also want to express my appreciation to the volunteers and staff of the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival, our annual celebration of the literary arts."
The three-day festival attracts about 1,200 people every year, and celebrates the power of words – whether written, spoken or signed – to ignite our imaginations and reveal worlds and ideas beyond our own experiences. By presenting diverse authors who reflect a wide range of perspectives and lived experiences, the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival aims to enable an informed and articulate community that connects with open hearts and open minds.
"We are immensely grateful to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for this grant, which supports us to sustain our charity’s vision to connect communities through literature, as we seek to continue our programming amid rising costs,” said Theresa Ebden, board chair of the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival. “This grant supports our first-ever professional charity fundraising program to support our festival, which has become a favourite among authors and readers across Ontario.”
The Eden Mills Writers’ Festival also recognized its 100-plus volunteers at the event, including its second annual volunteer of the year, Marion Hawley. Last year’s honoree was Les Zawadzki, who managed the renovations to the festival’s historic headquarters, which was also funded through an Ontario Trillium Foundation capital grant.
If you wish to support the festival or enquire about using the historic Rivermead location for your meeting or special event, please visit the website at: https://edenmillswritersfestival.ca/
The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is an agency of the Ontario government with a mission to build healthy and vibrant communities across the province. Last year, OTF invested more than $110M into 1,044 community projects and multi-sector partnerships. Projects aim to enhance economic well-being, foster more active lifestyles, support child and youth development, provide spaces for people to come together and connect, and create a more sustainable environment. Visit otf.ca to learn more.
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