Letter of Appeal

Dear clients, friends & supporters of BFO-Cornwall,
We are sending this letter to inform you that our agency is at a critical point in its 31-year history of serving the bereaved children, teens and adults of Cornwall and surrounding area. Cornwall is an awesome, generous community. BFO Staff, Facilitators and Board members believe in our mission statement: “Bereaved helping the Bereaved”. We hope this community believes in our mission as well. We thank you sincerely for your attention, consideration and financial support.
As with many non-profit agencies and service agencies, Bereaved Families has experienced a serious decrease in funding over the last few years and funding was eliminated in 2015.
As a result of this funding cut, most of our Programs & Services were eliminated and staff hours were cut by 62%. While facing this challenging situation, the current staff and Facilitators at Bereaved Families of Ontario-Cornwall have worked tirelessly, in 2016, to restore our most valued and helpful Programs & Services. We have re-established links with many agencies in Cornwall and S.D.G. who refer their clients to us for Grief Support. And the number of clients has increased significantly.
However, our fundraising efforts have not raised as much money as we require to cover our annual operating budget. In February 2017, a Fundraising Committee was formed to focus solely on organizing events. But in the interim, funds are at their lowest level ever. We are at a cross-roads, hoping to obtain sponsorships, corporate donations or personal donations, in the very near future, to allow Bereaved Families to keep its Cornwall office open and to continue to offer valuable help to those who would otherwise suffer in silence. Charitable receipts are issued for all donations.
Sincerely,

Francis Rounding,
President, BFO-Cornwall Board of Directors
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