2016 ANNUAL REPORT building forever together Our Operating Sponsors Mission Statement Our Community Foundation is dedicated to helping improve community living and the quality of life for citizens and visitors to Kenora and the Lake of the Woods Region. The Kenora and Lake of the Woods Regional Community Foundation is privileged to have received support from individuals and organizations listed below. These sponsors Mandate play a key role in promoting our vision, mission and man- date throughout our region. Each one makes an important The Community Foundation aims to strengthen the contribution to the operating expenses of the Community communities we serve by continuously striving towards Foundation. We commend them for their leadership and three key objectives. 1. Providing endowment building and personalized vision, in assisting us with the development of community donor services philanthropy. 2. Promoting broad and effective grant making 3. Offering community leadership Impact Our Community Foundation is creating a lasting legacy for our region. The permanent endowment funds we are building will stay in our community forever. The yearly earnings from the endowment funds will be used to fund grants to a wide range of community groups. Grants are awarded to local charities in the following fields: Arts and Culture, Health and Wellness, Social Welfare, Animal Welfare, the Environment and the Community at Large. Scope We are one of 191 Community Foundations across Canada with combined assets of $5.4 billion. Ninety percent of Canadian communities have access to a community foundation In 2016, the network distributed $266 million in grants to thousands of charities across the nation and received $253 million in endowed contributions. Our national network helps Canadians invest in building strong and resilient places to live, work and play. Front Cover Graduating students Jillian Skead of St. Thomas Aquinas High School, left and Ryver Red Cloud from Beaver Brae Secondary School, right, were presented with bursaries towards their post-secondary education from Sally Skead, a Director of the Wauzhushk Onigum Foundation. The Wauzhushk Onigum Foundation Educational Endowment Fund was established in 2012 and grew to $50,000 in 2014. The inaugural bursaries were presented to Jillian and Ryver in June 2016. Photo by Cory McCrindle. The 2016 Annual Report is generously sponsored by: Hook, Seller & Lundin LLP. Designed and Printed by Fifth Hammer Marketing Group PROUD MEMBER OF 2 Your Community makes you We are very pleased to present our and you make your Community 2016 Annual Report to the community. “The job of building community is to Since 2004, our Community Foundation has been working take the problems out of the closet hard to improve community liv- and open up the gifts”. John Mcknight ing and the quality of life for citizens and visitors to the Kenora and Lake of the Woods Region. We are doing this through the building of endowment funds, promoting broad and effective grant making and offering com- munity leadership. We hope that by reading this Annual Report, you will be encouraged to join us: as a donor, a grant recipient, or a volunteer. We would also be pleased if you would like to learn about leaving a legacy for our community. 2016 was indeed a year for celebrating the impact of $2 Million in cumulative grants, distributed to the charitable sector in the Kenora Along the way in 2016, we continued to connect with new donors and Lake of the Woods Region. Our Directors, left to right, Shannon Robinson, Secretary, Claudine Cordeiro, Treasurer, and Dennis through the “Give Where You Live” marketing and asset development Alvestad, President, extreme right, pose with Community Foundations program, designed to encourage individuals, families and organiza- of Canada President Ian Bird and Winnipeg Foundation CEO Rick tions to establish a named endowment fund for a $2,500 contribution. Frost, at an educational training session in Winnipeg. Our endowment donations totaled $309,220, while a record breaking $335,000 was distributed as grants to over fifty charities. We achieved a 6.95% rate of return and completed the year with $4.9 million in assets. We hope you enjoy reading the stories of our generous donors, worthy recipients and dedicated volunteers. We enjoyed a special year, by celebrating the milestone of distributing $2 Million in cumulative grants since 2004. We always appreciate listen- ing to the stories of how the grants impact our community, at both of our yearly granting ceremonies. Our generous donors were very much in evidence, through donations to our 10 Hour Giving Challenge, the 2016 marked the tenth year of outstanding financial support provided best ever financial result for the 13th Annual Festival of Trees and of by Andrew and Lisa Paterson and family to the Paterson First course the gifting of $60,000 from the Keewatin Legion for student bur- Nations Youth Apprenticeship Program. Since 2006, their $500,000 saries at our local high schools. We also celebrated the first grants from endowment fund has provided over thirty First Nations Youth with their first summer job opportunities. “Everyone needs their first big the Wauzhushk Onigum Foundation Endowment Fund for Education in break and this program will give them that opportunity.” said Andrew addition to recognizing ten years of success through the Andrew and Paterson. Pictured in the front row are the youth benefitting from the Lisa Paterson and family’s First Nations Youth Apprenticeship Program. program, in the back row are staff from Ne-Chee Friendship Centre To top off the year, the President of Community Foundations of Canada who administer the program. visited Kenora and congratulated us on working together for the com- mon good of our communities and region. In 2016, we recognized the efforts of two retiring Board of Directors; Richard Roy and Diane Pochailo. As an employee of Canadian Pacific in 2006, Richard was instrumental in bringing the entire group of Kenora employees to the Community Foundation, as monthly payroll donors. Diane spent nine years on the Board, with the last six years serving as treasurer. She spearheaded the understanding and use of a complicat- ed donor database and accounting software program which has helped us improve our reporting and receipting functions to donors. Thank you Richard and Diane, your efforts were greatly appreciated. Our third Annual 10 Hour Giving Challenge netted a total of $90,000 We thank all our donors, sponsors, grant recipients, volunteers and friends in donations for our endowment funds, during a ten hour time frame. for their tremendous commitment to the Kenora and Lake of the Woods The yearly event is hosted in the lobby of Copperfin Credit Union, Region. We look forward to working with everyone in growing our com- aired live on radio station 89.5 and then wraps up on stage at The Lake of the Woods Brewing Company. In 2016, local donations munities around beautiful Lake of the Woods: Building Forever Together. were augmented by challenges received by; Jim and Leney Richardson and the Thomas Sill Foundation. Pictured left to right are: Darryl Darlene MacGillivray, Executive Director Plummer, Station Manager at 89.5 The Lake, Marketing Committee Dennis Alvestad, Board President Chair, Kelly Williams, Dennis Alvestad CEO of Copperfin and Foundation President, Diane Pochailo, Foundation Director and Chair of the Asset Development Committee and Taras Manzie, owner of the Lake of the Woods Brewing Company. 3 Our 2016 Donor List The Community Foundation thanks all of our donors for contributing to the future of the Kenora and Lake of the Woods Region. Proceeds from the Festival of Trees Charity Fundraiser are used to support our operating expenses. All other gifts, with a few limited exceptions, are placed in our permanent endowment funds. Donations are invested as capital and the investment growth is distributed to registered charities annually in line with the donor’s wishes. Our goal is to help improve the lives of as many people as possible within our family of communities. Every effort has been made to provide a complete list of donors. If however, your name is missing from this list, we sincerely apologize and ask that you contact our office. Alcock, B.C. (Bert) Bulles, Sandra Down, Sayer Hogg, Dale and Cindy Lapworth, Garry and Diane Alcock, Crystal Burke, Pat and Phil Driedger, Avery and Jeff Holmstrom , Linda Laurin, Barbara Alcock, Elaine Cameron, Bill and Meg Dubchak, Perry Holroyd, James Lawlor, Heather Alcock, Gloria Cameron, Shelley Dufresne, Laurie Hook Seller & Lundin, LLP Leduc, Carol Allen , David W. Cancilla, Ronnie and Tina Duhaime, Denise Horsman , Rhonda LeMaistre, Deb Allen, Laurie Candline, Alyson Dupere, Lyse Hosfield, Dennis and Sandra Leroux, Frank Allison, Peter Canfield, David DVD Sales - Keewatin Hoshwa, Nadine Lessard, Dawn Alvestad , Dennis and Linda Carlson, Jennifer Edgewater Natural Health Houlden, Brad Lessard, Patrick Alvestad, Pat Carlson, Lynn Edie, Patricia Hughes, Sean & Kylie Leydier, Kyle and Fiona Anderson, Kyro Casey, Randi Edie, Rob and Patti Hughes, Tara Lindsay, Marc Anonymous Chambers-Ivey, Brenda Everett, Stu & Linda Image One Designs Inc. Livingston, Michelle Arklie, Hugh and Valerie Charles, Stephanie Ezekiel, Sarah Ingebrigston, Karen Livingstone, Rachelle Arnold, Gary & Shelly Chaze, Graham Fehr, Wayne & Carol Investors Group Financial Lockhart, Jim and Debbie Bahniuk-Brown, Helen Chisholm, Brock and Leanne Field, Jacquie Services Inc. Lockhart, Phyllis Baker, Ron and Anne Christie, Kent and Judy Findlay, Diane Inwood McKenna Ltd. Lougheed, Ellen Baltessen, Barry & Bonnie Chudy, Leah FIREFLY Isherhoff, Trevor Lovelace, Germain Barker, Chelsey City of Kenora Forest Helicopters Inc. Ivey, Ruth Luby, Allan and Sheila Barr, John and Sharon City of Kenora - City Hall Staff Fors, Carl Jackson, Barb Lundin Neill, Cathy Batista, P and S City of Kenora - Recreation Fraser, Douglas Johnson, Shelley Lundin, Stephen Baxter, Pamella Centre Frenette, Kim Johnson, Susanne Lunny, Gillian Bayview Toyota 1311048 Clarke, Jim and Diane Frenette, Patti Karschti, Rhona Lunny, Jim and Carol Ontario Inc.