30 community foundations to discuss issues and partnerships

Manitoba’s community foundations will gather in Winnipeg this weekend to discuss local charitable needs and how best to meet them. The regional meeting, called Manitoba Collaborating for a Better Future, will include sessions on: regional collaboration, communications, working with donors, scholarship funds and technology. There will also presentation on the health of Lake Winnipeg – a topic of concern for many of the province’s foundations.

“We’re excited to host this group of community foundation leaders from across our Province,” says Richard L. Frost, Chief Executive Officer of The Winnipeg Foundation. “Manitoba has a vibrant community foundation movement and we’re very pleased to work with these groups to help ensure a stronger future for our communities. We look forward to two days of fruitful discussion and sharing.”

Representatives from the following Manitoba communities will be in attendance: Boissevain, Brandon, Carberry, Carman, Coldwell, Dauphin, Fisher Branch, Gladstone, Gimli, Glenboro, Holland, Killarney, Lac Du Bonnet, Minnedosa, Morden, Neepawa, Oak Lake, Plum Coulee, Portage la Prairie, Selkirk, Souris, Swan Valley, Tiger Hills, Virden, Russell, Winkler and Winnipeg. They’ll be joined by staff of Community Foundations of Canada, as well as the Medicine Hat Community Foundation, South Saskatchewan Community Foundation and Kenora and Lake of the Woods District Community Foundation.

Manitoba is home to 44 community foundations – more, per capita, than any other region of Canada. In 2008, these groups (excluding The Winnipeg Foundation) had combined total assets of $34 million and made grants totaling almost $1.5 million to local charitable projects. The Winnipeg Foundation provides a range of supports to Manitoba community foundations, including administrative support grants, conference support, marketing, research and investment management.

The first community foundation in Canada, The Winnipeg Foundation has served our community since 1921. The Foundation pools and permanently invests gifts from donors of all walks of life. Through its spending formula the Foundation make grants to charitable agencies in the areas of: community service, education, health, arts and culture, heritage, environment and recreation. Last year the Foundation made grants totaling more than $20.8 million to more than 670 organizations.

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For more information, contact your community’s local foundation. (Visit www.mbfdn.org to find the one nearest you.)

Or, for The Winnipeg Foundation
Richard L. Frost, Chief Executive Officer
p: 944-9474 e: Rick Frost