The Yorkton & District Community Foundation (YDCF) held its first annual general meeting on March 25, a virtual meeting attended by 38 persons. Financial and activity reports were presented, annual grants were announced and a board of directors was elected.
YDCF is a registered charity founded in October 2019. An interim board composed of local volunteers guided development of the community foundation to its first AGM. Community foundations help donors to support a variety of charities and causes. Lasting legacies are possible by donating to a permanent endowment fund.
YDCF is committed to building endowment funds which hold donations in trust in perpetuity. The income earned by the endowment is used to make annual grants. At the AGM the Community Foundation announced the first of what will be annual grants from generated income.
The Community Foundation initially received $30,000 from a local mental health organization when it disbanded. Donations since then have increased the endowment fund to just over $100,000.
The organization has also been active administering and distributing funds during the Covid-19 pandemic in the past year.
YCDF received donations for a local Emergency Community Fund and led a collaborative effort to provide masks to seniors living in housing authority properties. Cash and in-kind donations received were $16,150.
The Community Foundation supplied a total of 9,600 individual masks to 879 seniors in 24 communities in the district.
YCDF also partnered with Community Foundations of Canada and the federal government to deliver the Emergency Community Support Fund to assist persons experiencing heightened vulnerability during the pandemic. Twelve local programs were supported with $105,000 granted to registered charities providing food, transportation, technology, counseling and activities sustaining physical and mental health.
At the AGM, the Community Foundation announced a further $5,400 in grants generated by its endowment fund revenue and remaining local emergency fund donations. The Salvation Army’s Lighthouse Food Bank and the Melville and District Food Bank received $1,500 each and $2,400 was granted for expansion of services offered by the mental health counselling clinic operated by the Society for the Involvement of Good Neighbours (SIGN).
The following were elected as directors of the Yorkton & District Community Foundation: Ray Bailey, Andrew Rae, Candance Tendler, Sharon Tropin, Victor Surjik, Trevor Plews, Lisa Washington , Rob McDill, Dick DeRyk and Jaime Helgason.
