In our efforts to help those in our community during these trying times, SurreyCares has granted numerous applicants funding through the Government of Canada’s Emergency Community Support Fund (ECSF). All applicants who have received an ECSF grant in round two have been given this funding to fulfill the needs of the most vulnerable members of our community. Kingdom Acts Foundation is one of these organizations; SurreyCares granted $12,488 to support their effort in delivering food to minorities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Kingdom Acts Foundation also provides support in the community by educating minorities and providing counselling to those in need.
There are more than 500 families in need who are registered with Kingdom Acts Foundation to receive counselling, education, and food security. Before COVID-19, Kingdom Acts Foundation was providing hampers for families once a week. However, due to the pandemic, the demand has risen exponentially. One necessity to increase food supply is to have a refrigeration unit to store the food, which unfortunately was not available to them. Thanks to the ECSF grant the foundation acquired a refrigeration unit, which led to an expanded inventory of food supply to the community.
“We have been operating in Surrey for the past ten years. We do not charge for counselling; we do not charge for anything. We never knew we could get support anywhere; It was just in these past few months we got to know that we could get support to expand what we are doing.” stated Dr. Godwin Ude Co-founder and Executive Director of the Kingdoms Acts Foundation. He also expressed gratitude to Surrey Cares for the funding. “We are talking about real people and real needs; we took some of our materials and food to a nearby women’s shelter and they were so excited and asked when we will be coming back again.”
The Kingdom Acts Foundation has been able to provide emotional and counselling support to members of the Surrey Community community. Dr. Blessing Ude, Co-founder and Vice Executive of the Kingdom Acts Foundation, shared an impactful story about a nurse who had visited them to acquire food for her family. She recently came to them in tears, explaining that her husband and herself have been laid off from work. Her husband is a refugee who worked in a factory but lost his job recently due to an accident. She had a hip problem which is why she lost her job as well. Both were unemployed and had three kids to look after. The family tried to apply for disability support, but it was not enough to pay rent and take care of their kids. The Kingdom Acts Foundation was able to support her family by providing food security and counselling to get them through this hard time.
Over the years, The Kingdom Acts Foundation has been aiding the people of Surrey in various forms. These services include KAF food bank, KAF community resource centre, counselling, global initiatives, summer camps, women empowerment, business consultancy/self-employment, English as a second language tutoring, job search/career development and resume help.
“We are glad to be able to offer our support to the Kingdom Acts Foundation; we truly wish there was more we could do,” said Christine Buttkus, Executive Director of SurreyCares. “It is stories like these that make all of our efforts worth it. People coming together and offering support to members of our community is heartwarming to see.”
The grant that the Kingdom Acts Foundation received was made possible through the Government of Canada's $350 million Emergency Community Support Fund, which saw over $900,000 allocated to SurreyCares in its first round and over $575,000 in the second round.
The Emergency Community Support Fund is being delivered through a national partnership with Community Foundations of Canada, United Way Centraide Canada and the Canadian Red Cross.
Individuals and businesses who wish to support Surrey charities are asked to give to the Surrey Community Relief Fund. In partnership with the Surrey Now-Leader, Surrey Board of Trade and The Saheli Foundation, the goal is to raise $500,000 to support the most vulnerable populations in Surrey.
To learn more about Kingdom Acts foundation, visit their website https://kingdomacts.ca/