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Environmental Trust Fund
News from The Perth and District Community FoundationBryce Bell, Executive Director
April 8, 2008
The Perth and District Community Foundation was incorporated in 2001 to serve the western corridor of Lanark County in eastern Ontario. Last fall our Foundation was fortunate to be one of 15 community foundations to receive a Kick Start environmental grant of $15,000 from the Community Foundations of Canada, made possible by generous support from the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation. This funding has proven – both financially and as a ‘stamp of credibility’ – to be pivotal with the launching and growth of our Environmental Trust Fund.
From the outset our plan was to partner with a particular local, large international corporation in our area. Since the receipt of the Kick Start grant, this corporation has now provided an additional $25,000 in seed money. This, along with a private donation and $10,000 of the Kick Start grant has allowed us to rapidly accumulate $ 48,000 to date in the Fund. This now forms a base from which to launch a fund growth campaign which will see our corporate sponsor contacting its suppliers, contractors, and customers in an attempt to broaden the funding partnership. The initiative will also involve the corporation, in conjunction with the Foundation, visiting in-person other corporations and businesses within our area to solicit direct funding - as well as their co-operation in further broadening the ‘ask program’ through their individual business contacts. Joint marketing material is being developed to facilitate this launch. It is also envisioned that this activity will heighten interest from private donors and volunteers. While the plans are still being put in place, the potential of this model is exciting to our Foundation and this community.
Concurrently, a separate environmental sub-committee is developing a strategy to identify all current environmental volunteer groups and regulators active within our catchment area. Our intent is to involve them in an initial forum to scope the nature of their involvements and to identify loopholes / potentials within that community. From our current vantage point we believe the Foundation’s focus will develop into a coordination / facilitation / information dissemination function. We also feel there will be identified a significant role for us in raising general public awareness around the environmental realities including their inherent challenges and potentials. This awareness heightening will inevitably also involve working with our political leaders in helping to develop community planning models and strategies. Funding and encouraging pilot projects and innovative undertakings such as the Art of Being Green Festival, held every July in Lanark Village, will further define our involvement.
These are indeed exciting times to be on your feet ‘hacking-out’ and defining our individual and collective roles in these incredibly important undertakings. Thanks again to Community Foundations of Canada and the J.W McConnell Family Foundation for their encouragement and support throughout this evolving process.
Posted 04/15/2008
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