William Forbes Alloway
At next year’s conference, we’ll celebrate the 90th anniversary of community foundation work in Canada (now that’s a sizable cake!). We’ll be celebrating Canada’s very first community foundation, The Winnipeg Foundation, and the birth of Canada’s community foundation movement in many ways at the CFC 2011 Conference in Vancouver next May.
Here, we’ve asked The Winnipeg Foundation to tell us how they’ll recognize this milestone all year long…
Prairie Beginnings
Founded by prominent entrepreneur William Forbes Alloway, who said when creating The Winnipeg Foundation, “ Since I first set foot in Winnipeg 51 years ago, Winnipeg has been my home and has done more for me than it may ever be in my power to repay. I owe everything to this community and feel it should receive some benefit from what I have been able to accumulate.” Three years late in 1924, the Foundation received an envelope labeled “The Widow’s Mite” containing its second gift; three five-dollar coins. Modest compared to Alloway’s initial donation, this gift has come to symbolize the spirit that drives the Foundation – that any contribution, no matter the size, can make a difference in the community. This principle remains deeply entrenched in its values.
In 2011 The Winnipeg Foundation celebrates 90 years of community building and on January 16, 2011 we will host the “Our Great Community Festival.” The festival – a sort of ‘trade show for charitable organizations’, provides booth space for agencies in Alloway Hall at the Manitoba Museum. Winnipeggers are invited to drop by for the free afternoon, learn more about the dedicated charities that serve the community and help The Winnipeg Foundation kick off its 90th anniversary year with cake, live entertainment and launch of the Foundation’s 2010 interactive annual report.
The Winnipeg Foundation will host, participate in and be honoured at a number of other events throughout 2011, including its 90-hour Agency Fund Challenge to help agency fund holders raise dollars, the University of Manitoba’s Asper Business School’s annual Adventurers’ Banquet which Mr. Alloway will ‘attend’ (historic re-enactment) and the second biennial Philanthropy and the Law Symposium. It is also being honoured as Philanthropic Organization of the Year by AFP Manitoba on National Philanthropy Day - Nov 12, 2010 in Winnipeg.
Many thanks to LuAnn Lovlin of The Winnipeg Foundation.
As a movement, we’ve accomplished a lot in the past 90 years. From our ongoing support of local priorities to our efforts to bring our community together on issues of common interest, Canada’s 176 community foundations are a growing voice for community vitality.
We want to hear from you!
Share a highlight from your community foundation’s history with us. Is there a milestone that stands out for you?
