Montreal, boroughs give more than $1M to Centraide emergency fund

Drive-thru testing extremely busy Many lined up on the first day of drive-thru and walk-up testing at Place des Festivals, where they hope to test 2,500 per day.

MONTREAL — The City of Montreal and most of its boroughs have pooled resources to provide more than $1 million in emergency funding for Centraide to help community organizations that work with the city’s most vulnerable.

Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante made the announcement at the Centraide offices on Tuesday, saying the city was contributing $150,000 and had asked the boroughs to also pitch in.

The borough contributions:

The contributions equal $1,140,000.

Another 15 corporations also donated more than $3 million to the fund.

Centraide is also asking the public to pitch in via centraide-mtl.org or by texting ‘COVID’ to 80100.

“Let’s send a very strong message that we’re there to support our local organizations,” said Plante.

The funding will go primarily to ensuring food security to the city’s most vulnerable, including children, the elderly and newcomers.

It will also help support groups that address the psychological impact of the pandemic, including anxiety and isolation.

“I’m proud we moved quickly, efficiently,” said Plante. “It shows the ability of Montreal to help the most vulnerable among us that normally -- but especially in a crisis -- we can help our most vulnerable.”

Plante also thanked the city’s essential service workers for their hard work during the pandemic.