In April 2022, the Southside Shuffle Blues & Jazz Festival received a $60,400 Resilient Communities Fund grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation Fund to help the organization recover from the impacts of COVID-19. With this support, the organization will upgrade their health & safety and technological equipment and improve their fundraising strategy and volunteer training.

“Non-profit organizations are a crucial and valued part of any community, especially here in Mississauga-Lakeshore,” said Rudy Cuzzetto, MPP for Mississauga-Lakeshore. “Organizations like the Southside Shuffle Blues & Jazz Festival allow Ontarians to exhibit and witness the historical significance of the arts well before the organizations establishment in 1999. This grant will help to improve the Southside Shuffle which will allow them to continue to promote our province’s beautiful art sector for the many years to come.”

“This investment by the Ontario Trillium Foundation will help us rebuild and recover from impacts of COVID-19 by updating our safety program and protective equipment, purchasing new sales and audio-visual technology, developing a fundraising plan and training volunteers   The impact of this Ontario Trillium Foundation grant cannot be underestimated,” said Kristine Kane, Chair of the Southside Shuffle Board of Directors.

Since its inception in 1999, the outdoor Tim Hortons Southside Shuffle Blues and Jazz Festival has set new standards for excellence and growth, earning accolades from its peers, entertainers, sponsors, media, attendees and local businesses, and has become a destination event that brings both music lovers and the world’s best musical talent to the banks of Lake Ontario, in Port Credit. If you wish to learn more about the Southside Shuffle, please visit the website at: www.southsideshuffle.ca.  

The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) mission is to build healthy and vibrant communities across Ontario. As an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations, last year, OTF invested nearly $209M into 2,042 community projects and partnerships, which included funding for the Government of Ontario’s Community Building Fund. Since 2020, OTF has supported Ontario’s economic recovery by helping non-profit organizations rebuild and recover from the impacts of COVID-19. Visit otf.ca to learn more.