It’s Official…..

Expedition Elgin 2012

Sunday, August 12th

St. Thomas, ON

Challenges that you won’t soon forget!!

So, mark your calendars and put your team together,

….and start training!

Date: Tuesday May 22nd
Time: 4pm
Place: St. Thomas Elgin Public Art Centre, 301 Talbot St., St. Thomas

Similar to previous years, we will begin at 4pm with a short business meeting, and after a refreshment break we will celebrate generous donors, new funds, highlights of 2011, exciting plans for 2012, and meet our new Board of Directors!

We would appreciate your RSVP

Looking forward to seeing you,

Karen

Angela is a single mom and was happy to hear about the financial assistance program through YMCA Strong Kids. “The Y has provided routine in my life, which makes my children and me healthier. I don’t know what I would do without the Y”, says Angela.

She never had these opportunities when she was a child and without the help of YMCA Strong Kids, she wouldn’t be able to offer it to her children. During her time at the Y, Angela has grown as a person and has become more confident. Her kids have learned how to swim and love playing with their friends.

The Sweetgrass Fund of the Elgin St. Thomas Community Foundation is a generous contributor to the YMCA Strong Kids program!

He had a special love of baseball and played second base in a fastball league for the Royal Bank.

Jim O’Grady was born and grew up just outside of St. Thomas. He attended school at Mary Buck, St Raphael and St. Joe’s. He graduated from the University of Windsor.

Jim was always a hard worker and would always give his best in any endeavour that he started.  He worked in tobacco, at Clarke Equipment and the Bank of Montreal prior to graduating from university. Following his move to Alberta he worked a short time in retail and then started his career with the Royal Bank.  He eventually left the bank and took courses to get his CGA designation.  He started to work with a small survey company that did work in the oil patch. He became the CFO of this company and various other oil patch related companies. He enjoyed going into a company , helping it get up and running smoothly and then move on.  Jim enjoyed a challenge and once he had things working well he would be looking for the next challenge.

He  believed if you were going to do something you should do it well and he would always strive to improve whatever he was doing. He would never ask anyone to do something that he wasn’t willing to do himself. He believed in giving people the tools that they needed to do their jobs well.

Jim was a quiet behind the scenes kind  of person who would never ask for anything for  himself and would give what he had if he thought someone else needed it more. He was always willing to help his friends out in their time of need.

His wife Mary Jane wanted to honour his memory by creating an endowment fund that would contribute to “registration and equipment costs for children who would otherwise not be able to participate (in sports) due to lack of funds”. In this way she is helping Jim to pass on his love for the game whether it be in sport or life to the next generation ,…and the next.

The first grants from this new Fund will partner with Big Brothers/Big Sisters of St. Thomas-Elgin and provide baseball registration and equipment for two ‘little brothers’ who would not have had the funds to participate in the sport they love.

The Elgin St. Thomas Community Foundation is honoured to hold and manage this legacy in memory of Jim O’Grady.

Community Foundation Granting Reaches $206,300.63!

Elgin County residents are most certainly generous! The many generous hearts and donors who work with the Elgin St. Thomas Community Foundation have granted $79,038.23 in 52 separate grants to Elgin County charities and scholarships to local students in 2011. This brings our total granted to date to $206,300.63 while holding our community capital intact!

 “This is an incredible milestone” says Board Chair Junee Monteith. “It is a real honour to be working with such community minded people and building such wonderful legacies in Elgin County”.

The 52 Grants in 2011 covered a wide range of charities including the Caring Cupboard, Inn out of the Cold, Talbot Teen Centre, Elgin Theatre Guild, YMCA, Community Living Elgin, United Way, STEGH, and included many post-secondary educational scholarships to Elgin County students.

“Some of these grants are from unrestricted funds like our Community Fund” says Executive Director Karen Laine, “However the lion’s share of granting is from individuals or families through their Donor Advised Funds. Family philanthropy is so inspiring to me,…..a great model to teach younger generations about community,…when all the generations discuss and decide together who they will grant to this year. Very exciting.”

“The grants from the Elgin St. Thomas Community Foundation are so important to us here at the Talbot Teen Centre” says Coordinator Sherry Ball. “They are one of the few granters that provide support to fill the gaps or do innovative new programming that does not always fit in standard grant relationships.”

Any charity in Elgin County is eligible to apply for grants. The deadline for student scholarships is June 01^st, and for Community Fund applications is Sept 30^th each year. “We try our best to match need with donors” says ED Karen Laine. “It is always worth submitting an application, and keeping us aware of your organization’s funding needs.”

The Elgin St. Thomas Community Foundation started building endowment funds in 2005, and now holds over $789,579 in community assets.

Visit our website at www.escf.ca to see a full list of 2011 grant recipients, donors and families who’s BIG HEARTS and generosity we celebrate this Valentine’s Day!

Elgin-St. Thomas Community Foundation’s Mission is “To strengthen the community for the benefit of all by fostering the growth of community philanthropy; giving opportunities to benefactors to leave a lasting legacy for future generations; building and prudently managing community endowments; and addressing the needs of the community through strategic grant making and organizational support”.

Endowed Funds are held into perpetuity, and a portion of the interest earned each year is granted to address emerging need and support charitable activities in our community. Quickly becoming one of Canada’s largest grant-makers, collectively the 177 Community Foundations across Canada now hold over 3 billion in assets and distribute over 140 million annually.

With great pleasure we announce the following new Board Members in 2012:

• Kimberley Parker- Journalist
• Amy Dale- Lawyer/Gunn and Assoc.
• Kelly Ruddock- Financial Advisor/Edward Jones

We are delighted to welcome Kimberley, Amy and Kelly and thank them for their committment to the Elgin St. Thomas Community Foundation.

To see a list of all 2012 Board Members, Link  HERE

During the summer of 2011 they extended their services to include a week long day camp for kids and families experiencing grief. The focus of this camp was to support kids through group activities (like games, arts and crafts etc.) to explore grief in a healthy supported environment, discuss death and dying, and create new friendships.

Read about one family’s experience here.

My Journey

My husband, my best friend, and the best dad in the world died the last day of September 2010 surrounded by loving family and friends. In the spring of 2011 I made my way to Serenity House and met Cindy. I told her my story and completed the paperwork to become a volunteer.

Since that day I have attended a bereavement group for 8 weeks with others who are grieving the loss of a loved one. I found myself crying for someone else’s pain and loss. For so many months I had cried for only my own. The people I have met during this chapter of my journey are very special and I hope to continue meeting with them.

I also met Wendy and Caroline, the leaders of the group. They let us talk and talk about our feelings in a positive, safe environment, free of judgment and others opinions. During this time I was asked if my son (age 15) and daughter (17) would be interested in helping out with the first kids camp for children who are grieving a loss of a parent. This was a very big step for a teenage boy to discuss his feelings about losing your dad. After the week of camp both my kids graduated with the other children and let letters go by balloon to the clouds. I was very proud of both of them for helping others who just like them have lost a parent.

How life just happens is still a mystery to me but my daughter feels that her path is to help children with grief and plans on looking into this when she graduates this year. As for me I have signed up and will be starting the fundamentals of hospice/palliative care. My future as I knew it is no longer but with the help of many along the way things seem to be falling into place. People say it will get better……it doesn’t, it just is different.

Kathy

Serenity House Hospice also has a new handbook of resources titled “Understanding your Child’s Grief Journey: A handbook of resources to help guide the understanding of why children react the way they do when faced with death and grieving.”. You can reach Cindy and the wonderful folks at Serenity House, learn more about their programs, and request a copy of this new handbook at: www.serenityhousehospice.ca

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Marion Morgan

1934-2011

It is with heavy hearts that we say goodbye to our dear friend Marion Morgan who died on Nov.22^nd, 2011. She was a generous hearted woman who always had a smile, a cheery disposition and a kind word, and was always thinking of others.

Marion established the Janet and Marion Morgan Environmental Fund in 2006 with a wish to honour her mother Janet,…whom she told me taught her so much about the value of a ‘penny saved’. Through this Fund Marion supports charities that work in support of the environment and animal/wildlife protection.  Organizations like the David Suzuki Foundation (she went to the same school as David by the way!), Ecojustice Canada (formerly Sierra Legal), Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary and Animal Aide of St. Thomas will continue to benefit from her annual granting. As an Endowment Fund, it will continue to grant to her favourite charities into perpetuity, celebrating her life, her legacy of kindness and generosity and her wish for a healthy environment.

Marion,…..it is a true honour to have known you and to manage this legacy on your behalf.

 Marion visiting Animal Aide

Obituary from London Free Press

MORGAN, Marion – With deep feeling of sorrow, we said goodbye to Marion Morgan on November 22, 2011 at the age of 77. Marion was a devoted employee of 3M until her retirement. She enjoyed gardening, travelling and caring for her pets. Marion was a person that felt, if you want to live in a community, you have to give something back. She did this by volunteering in many organizations as well as having positive actions and a positive attitude. As per Marion’s wishes, there will be no funeral or visitation. As expressions of sympathy, memorial donations may be made to the Janet & Marion Morgan Environmental Fund – established to support environmental, animal welfare and wildlife protection agencies.

A HUGE THANKS to everyone who participated in Expedition Elgin 2011.

Please read the attached short report to see some pictures, learn about how much money we raised, and hear our THANK YOU to all the Participants, Volunteers, Checkpoint Hosts and Corporate and Prize Partners who helped to make this event a big success. Thank you to everyone who helped make Expedition Elgin 2011 a Success!

Thank you to April, David and Elaine for sharing their photos with us. Putting the photos on our website proved problematic,…so we are creating an album on the Kodak site where you can view them all and download your favourites.

Click to see the photos that from Expedition Elgin 2011.

Expedition Elgin is designed to be able to move around and highlight

what is wonderful about Elgin County.

Where would you like Expedition Elgin 2012 be held?

We would appreciate 3 short minutes of your time to participate in this survey, and help us plan for 2012.

THANK YOU!

See the full list of Awesome Corporate Partners and Prize Partners — by clicking here!

Expedition Elgin is a fundraiser for the Elgin St. Thomas Community

Foundation, who supports local charities with their annual grantmaking.

We are excited to Celebrate our growing list of Corporate Partners!

Our committment is to celebrate our Partners ”year-long, everything we do” , and are delighted to extend a public THANK YOU to all of them.

We very much value their support, and encourage you to THANK THEM with your business!

To see the full …..and growing list of Partners CLICK HERE