Niagara Safety Village's main building will get a new roof, as will some of its smaller building thanks to BCM (Bertie & Clinton Mutual) Insurance Co.

Chris Anders, chair of the safety village board, said the recent $50,000 community grant from the Welland-based company is a game-changer for the organization.

"This is a significant grant. Normally, we'd have to apply to several different sources to get this amount. It's a huge contribution to the village," said Anders.

He said replacing the main roof and the others was not something the safety village, 100 Niagara College Blvd., would have been able to afford on its own.

"This was something we needed, the roof was at the end of its life. This will allow the safety village to remain open and continue to offer safety education to school-aged children in Niagara."

Anders said the organization was extremely thankful for the Bertie & Clinton grant and added the company's name would be added on to one of the safety village's buildings for the next decade.

The insurance company recently handed out more than $110,000 in grants to seven Niagara organizations.

Others receiving funds were The Hope Centre, $10,000; Autism Ontario's Niagara Chapter, $10,000; Food 4 Kids Niagara, $7,500; Project Share, $10,000; South Niagara Rowing Club, $12,000; and Wainfleet Agricultural Society, $13,441.

Angela Arsenio, a director on Bertie & Clinton's board of directors, said the community grants were a new initiative for the company.

"Our way of giving back and serving a need that may not already be filled . providing for those in need."

The company committed more than $200,000 to the program.

Arsenio said organizations had to send in a brief, fun video with their application earlier this year, explaining how funding being requested would be used.

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"We had $900,000 in requests for the $110,000 we were giving out. That shows the need," she said.

The deadline for the next round of grants is November 1 and with some changes to the criteria, organizations are encouraged to check the BCM website at bcminsurance.com/community-grants-program/.