Donnybrae's 2023 Community Fund is back!

Community groups don’t miss out! –The Donnybrae Community Fund is open

The 2023 Donnybrae Community Fund is now open, and local not-for-profit groups in the Donnybrook area are invited to apply for a financial grant of $1,500 to support their local community project.

Submissions opened on August 17 and close at 5 pm, September 28, 2023.

The Donnybrae Community Fund grant program is an initiative of the Dennis Family Corporation, the developer of Donnybrae estate, who this year, is proud to not only be celebrating 21 years of successfully operating Community Funds across their residential developments both in Victoria and Queensland, but also a milestone of having distributed more than $1 million in financial grants over this time to hundreds of local not-for-profit groups and organisations across their communities.

Donnybrae estate launched its first Community Fund in 2021 and to date has provided over $40,000 worth of grants to not-for-profit groups in the area.

“The Donnybrae Community Fund has assisted a broad cross-section of Donnybrook, Craigieburn and Wollert communities to help make many programs and projects possible. We are proud to continue to support local communities by providing financial assistance in areas where we operate our business and look forward to welcoming more groups this year as the Donnybrook area continues to grow.”

“Our Community Fund presentation nights have become an annual highlight for us and the many not-for-profit groups that we assist. This year we look forward to welcoming even more community groups from around the Donnybrae estate as the area continues to grow, said Dennis Family Group Director, Grant Dennis.

An independent judging panel will assess applications and successful recipients will be notified by October.

To apply for a grant, applicants must be a not-for-profit group operating a service within the boundaries of Donnybrook, Craigieburn and Wollert and meet the eligibility criteria detailed on the application form, which is available at https://donnybrae.com.au/community-fund-2023

Marisa Debattista, from Second Chance Rescue (SCAR) one of the worthy 2022 Modeina Community Fund recipients, says the funds have been used to help support their pet outreach programs.

“ Since we started in 2008 we have rescued and rehomed over 12,000 cats and dogs that needed a second chance at a happy life. SCAR has always aspired to take a preventative approach to pet homelessness in Victoria rather than the band aid approach of rescuing and rehoming, a cycle which is difficult to break,” explains Marisa.

“The grant funding will help us to support community members with their pets BEFORE they need to consider surrendering. Our program addresses some of the deeper social issues leading to the increasing number of homeless animals in our community and keeps families together and pets happy and healthy in their homes.”