AAA

NEWS & EVENTS

Muskoka Community Foundation is pleased to report to all Muskoka Schools that with the generous support of an anonymous donor we have been able to grant more than $20,000.00 to support student learning opportunities in the past two years. Our focus has been to allocate funds to benefit students whose financial situation may not allow them to particpate in Optional learning experiences organized by their school. Programs that stimulate students understanding of Citizenship , Culture , Service are a priority of these funds. We have provided funds for both Elementary Schools students across Muskoka and Secondary Students at the Public and Separate School systems to enjoy and learn. We have funded educational trips to Ottawa , Quebec City, Toronto as well as special journeys to places like Kenya, Chile , California. You may access and inquire about support for students with financial challenges by e-mailing the Chair of the Muskoka Community Foundation at 3durnan@sympatico.ca Gord Durnan,Chair,Muskoka Community Foundation,October,2011 Presentation to the South Muskoka Hospital Foundation Chris Gun-Munro, Director, MCF presents a cheque to Colin Miller, Executive Director, South Muskoka Hospital Foundation on behalf of the Lowden Family Fund. Presenting a Donation to the Stan Darling Bursary Fund The Honourable Tony Clement, MP for Parry Sound-Muskoka presents a cheque to Keith Montgomery – Chair of the Stan Darling Bursary Committee along with Rick Sellons, Principal - Gravenhurst High School, Emma Burkholder - Bursary recipient, and Gord Durnan, Chair - Muskoka Community Foundation. The $33,545.60 represent the proceeds from Tony Clement's Charity Golf Tournament held June 28, 2011 at the Muskoka Bay Club. Stan Darling Environmental Education Fund Endowment 2011 Report We are pleased to report that in 2011 we issued 7 Bursaries of $1,000.00 each to the following deserving students in Parry Sound – Muskoka. Congratulations and best wishes for future success. Cody Wainwright – Almaguin Highlands Secondary School who is attending Fleming College Elizabeth Radey – Huntsville High School who is attending Trent University Megan Ellis – St.Dominic Catholic Secondary School who is attending McGill University Emma Burkholder – Gravenhurst High School who is attending Fleming College Amy Hutchinson - Parry Sound High School who is attending Carlton University Nathan Grant – Huntsville High School who is attending Dalhousie University Carolyn Gibson – Bracebridge Muskoka Lakes Secondary School Since the inception of the Stan Darling Endowment fund at the Muskoka Community Foundation $25,000.00 in Educational Burseries have been awarded. December,2011 Thank you from the Honourable Tony Clement, M.P. , for Parry Sound - Muskoka and the Stan Darling Environmental Education Endowment Fund at the Muskoka Community Foundation for your generous support in 2011 of Tony’s golf tournament held June 30th at the beautiful Muskoka Bay Club. In 2011 we granted $7,000.00 in bursaries to students from each of the secondary schools in Parry Sound –Muskoka to support their education at Colleges and Universities throughout Canada. Since the inception of these Stan Darling Awards some $25,000.00 has been granted. A truly wonderful investment in our future leaders. The goal of this Endowment is to created a capital endowment of $150,000.00 and because of your generosity and love of golf and respect for Stan’s legacy the fund now has almost $125,000.00 of capital invested with the Muskoka Community Foundation. Your continued support through Sponsorship and participation in 2012 in Tony Clements Golf tournament will guarantee we reach our goal. Be sure to book Monday,July 9th ,2012 for a day with Tony at Muskoka Bay Club, surely this will be one of the highlights of your golfing experiences next year. More details on registration will be available early in the New Year by contacting Lorraine Etler @ 705 645-1593. Sincere Best wishes to all. Tony Gift of $2,500 for the Huntsville Hospital Foundation November 10, 2010 Huntsville District Memorial Hospital Foundation 4-100 Frank Miller Dr., Huntsville, ON P1H 1H7 Attention: Debi Davis, Executive Director Dear Debi, It is with pleasure that I enclose our donation of $2,500.00 from the Robert P. Seagram memorial fund at the Muskoka Community Foundation for your expansion project for Kidney Dialysis. While Bob was active as a Director of the Muskoka Community Foundation he often mentioned his love for the important work of your Hospital Foundation so we thought that this gift would be a way of celebrating his love of Huntsville and Muskoka. Best wishes with your project and all the other important work to support the MAHC efforts on behalf of all who seek medical treatment at your fine Hospital. Sincerely, Gord Durnan, Chair Muskoka Community Foundation RBC's Carol Howorucha Provides $750.00 Donation Special thanks to Carol Howorucha, Investment Advisor with RBC Dominion Securities, presents a donation of $750.00 to Gord Durnan, Chair of the Muskoka Community Foundation to support the growth and development of this important new Endowment building Foundation for Muskoka's future. Funding Muskoka’s Future By Allan Cook The Muskoka Community Foundation is celebrating the establishment of an endowment of $100,000 from Steve and Linda Lowden of Port Carling, which will be the foundation’s first family-directed fund. Founded in 2007, the Muskoka Community Foundation manages endowments and investment funds, using the investment income and equity from charitable gifts and funds to benefit community and charitable organizations throughout the region. The Lowden Family Fund will be overseen by the family themselves, who will meet every year with members of the foundation to review possible recipients within the community. “Before the Community Foundation we didn’t have anything of this sort in Muskoka. There was a real need,” Steve Lowden says. Lowden was a founding member of the Toronto Community Foundation, and his wife Linda was a founding director of the Muskoka Community Foundation. They have agreed to make their contribution to the Muskoka Community Foundation public in order to encourage others to consider doing the same. “Ours was a token contribution that I hope will spawn further donations,” Lowden says. “We need to get people thinking that if you’re a Muskokan, that’s what you do, is support the community.” Lowden, a third-generation Muskokan whose local roots run back as far as the area’s renowned first tourist, James Bain, is pleased to know their children and grandchildren will be an active part of the legacy in the years to come and invites anyone interested in making charitable donations to give the gift of investment capital. “It’s forever. They can make sure that there will be funds for things that they believe in that are part of the Muskoka way of life – and they can get their children involved,” he says. Muskoka Community Foundation chair and founding director Gord Durnan believes the gift from the Lowdens will not only make a difference to the local organizations that will benefit from the investment income, but to the foundation itself, opening the door to similar gifts from other area families. “The Lowden family gift is so important for Muskoka. We think that example will be replicated many times over. I think people will say, ‘That’s something that we could do!’” Durnan says. “I think that’s the strongest kind of fund that we can have; one where the donors and their families are actively involved as advisors.” Durnan reports the foundation’s investments grew to almost $105,000 in 2009, and four new directors have joined the organization. An endowment in the name of former Parry Sound/Muskoka MP Stan Darling has already provided scholarships to six environmentally-minded area high school students, and the foundation has subsidized extracurricular activities of 18 underprivileged students through a separate gift. “You know, it’s so much fun giving this money away,” he says. “When you actually go see them and you listen to the stories, and you hand them the cheque to make a difference in somebody’s life, their eyes light up and they smile. The giving away from our point of view is what we volunteers get as a reward.” Courtesy of What's Up Muskoka. View Page 9 For the Article. New Donor Advised Fund Created In the Fall of 2009 a Donor approached the Muskoka Community Foundation with an idea of creating a Donor Advised Fund in support of Students in Muskoka who may require a little financial assistance to enable them to fully participate in school based learning opportunities in "Citizenship, Culture, Service". This fund was created with a gift to MCF of a paid up Life Insurance Policy for which the donor had no need for this policy. The ownership of this Insurance policy was transferred to the MCF and the MCF also became the sole beneficiary. The MCF then cashed in the Policy and these funds became the principle of the Donor advised fund. The MCF was then able to give to the Donor a Charitable Tax receipt for the full cash surrender value of the policy. A great idea and a tax effective way to accomplish a donors Philanthropic intent. In the first three months of 2010 the MCF has distributed $6,420.00 to 5 Muskoka Schools to assist 14 students to participate in school learning excursions in the pursuit of experiences to enhance "Citizenship, Culture, Service". The MCF looks forward to offering more grants throughout all of Muskoka Schools later this year. Gravenhurst High School 3 students for science trip $1,490 Bracebridge Public School 2 students Quebec City trip $1,050 Gravenhurst Public School 6 students Ottawa trip $1,881.82 K.P. Manson School Ottawa trip 6 students $2,200 Muskoka Magazine Feature Muskoka Community Foundation was featured in the Muskoka Magazine and you can read the full article on Creating A Lasting Legacy here as a PDF file. Stan Darling Environment Education Endowment Fund In the Fall of 2009 we had the pleasure of issuing 6 educational grants valued at $1,000.00 to the following worthy students: Laura Richards of Parry Sound attending University of Guelph Sarah Huppert of Sundridge attending Lakehead University Kyle Belanger of Bracebridge attending Georgian College Naomi Stager of Gravenhurst attending University of Guelph Kyla Fuller of Huntsville attending University of Ottawa Kathleen Spencer of Bracebridge attending McGill University These grants were made possible because of the generous support of many volunteers and donors. In 2009 the Honourable Tony Clement MP , Parry Sound Muskoka held a golf tournament which raised an impressive $21,160 for the Stan Darling Environment Education Endowment at Muskoka Community Foundation. Mark your calendar for Monday, July 12th, 2010 for this year's Tournament to be held at the fabulous golf course at Ridge at Manitou near Parry Sound. Call Lorraine at Tony’s office (705) 645-1593 to register your group and to be a sponsor, donor of a prize or just to make a cash donation. St. Domenic's Visit to Peru Flow Through Gift helps Students at St. Dominic's Secondary School enjoy a great learning experience with at visit to Peru by the members of the graduating class in March 2009. The Muskoka Community Foundation was pleased to work with a Muskoka donor who wished to provide funds anonymously to ensure that every member of the grade 12 class could afford the valuable learning experience of a class trip to Peru to visit with children and learn more about the environment.

Library Restoration Project May 2009 the Muskoka Community Foundation was pleased to present a $2,000. cheque plus $500.in paint from the local Huntsville dealer to the Township of Lake of Bays , Library Restoration Project in Baysville from Benjamin Moore Canada who works through Community Foundations of Canada to distribute more than $100,000. annually to assist heritage projects with both cash grants and Benjamin Moore product in communities with local Community Foundations such as Muskoka.

 

Stan Darling Endowment Fund

Left to right: Gord Durnan, Chair, MCF; Linda Brouillette, C.A., Stan Darling Fund; Keith Montgomery, Chair; Stan Darling Fund; John Darling, Stan Darling Fund; Dan Wyjad, Stan Darling Fund; Tom Steadman, Director, MCF.

June 2009 the Muskoka Community Foundation formalized an agreement with the Stan Darling Environmental Education Grant Committee to create a Permanent Endowment Fund to be managed and administered by the Muskoka Community Foundation. The purpose of this fund is to grant annually six Awards of $1,000.00 each to a graduating student at each of the 6 Secondary Schools in Parry Sound and Muskoka Districts in Honour of Stan Darling who served as MP for the federal riding of Parry Sound – Muskoka for 21 years. This fund was initiated by the Honourable Tony Clement, MP and Keith Montgomery along with members of the Darling family and other community volunteers. These grants were made in 2007 and 2008 and now the goal is to create a permanent fund of a minimum of $150,000. Within the next year so that in future years the Investment income will fund these awards in perpetuity. Funds raised at the June 29th, 2009 Tony Clement golf tournament will be donated to the Stan Darling Environmental Education Endowment Fund.

 

 

 

“All for Community”

 

 

The Muskoka Community Foundation is pleased to announce our First named Endowment Fund “The Andy and Jo Griffith Endowment”

 

With the recent passing of Andy Griffith (November 20, 2008) who was an inaugural Board Member and Treasurer of the Muskoka Community Foundation it was decided in consultation with the family that a permanent endowment would be created to honour the more than 20 years of community service and leadership that both Andy and his late wife Josephine (Jo) provided to many Muskoka organizations and Charities throughout Muskoka.

 

The Griffiths volunteer lives touched many from the Chambers of Commerce and Muskoka Tourism to Muskoka Futures. Jo was active with the Cellar Singers and the Choir at St.Thomas Anglican Church where Andy lent his gardening skills. Many Charities over the years also benefited from their interest including South Muskoka Hospital Foundation, Community Living South Muskoka, Muskoka Heritage Foundation and the Muskoka Community Foundation.

 

Donations in Memory of Andy to the Andy and Jo Griffith permanent Endowment Fund can be made to the “Muskoka Community Foundation” and mailed to P.O.Box 326 Bracebridge, ON, P1L 1T7. A charitable tax receipt will be issued to all donors.

 

In future years funds generated by this Fund will be distributed to many of the Charities supported by Andy and Jo as well as supporting new and emerging needs throughout Muskoka by the Muskoka Community Foundation.

 

For further information contact the Chairman of the Muskoka Community Foundation at the address provided or call 705 646-1220 or e-mail info@muskokacommunityfoundation.ca

	Facts about Muskoka Community Foundation
	The Muskoka Community Foundation was inspired by a group of volunteers in Muskoka, both cottagers and permanent residents who were aware of the important philanthropic benefits of some 160 community foundations across Canada. These foundations hold Community assets of about 3 Billion dollars generating more than 175 million dollars in annual grants to local community charities. The time was right for Muskoka to benefit in the future from it's own community foundation. In 2007 these founding directors applied for Incorporation and then applied for and received Charitable status late in 2007. In 2008 the Muskoka Community Foundation received the endorsement of all area Municipal Councils and the District Municipality of Muskoka. The goal of the Muskoka Community Foundation is to encourage Individual donors and their families to create permanent endowment funds to benefit Muskoka's charities and their important work forever.