Perhaps you have asked yourself the question 'what is unique about the Community Foundation?' The answer is simple and it is powerful.  Any gift, regardless of size, provided to the Foundation will benefit our communities forever. 

Whether you give a gift to the Community Foundation today, or are considering a planned gift as part of your will, you are planting a seed that, with careful tending, will grow into something that will benefit future generations.  Ultimately, you are creating your footprint with a gift that helps forever.

The formal name of the funds we use to care for our community is called an endowment fund; a big name for a simple tool that operates in a manner similar to a savings account with more flexibility.  For instance, you can create your own savings account (endowment fund) or provide a gift to an existing fund.  You can support a part of the community, a specific charity or the community as a whole.  You can establish a fund in your name, the name of a loved one or perhaps to reflect a cause or organization that is important to you. 

There is great power in charitable giving and even more so when, during the planning process, thought is given to what is important to you and your family.  It is a reflection of your values and a statement to future generations about your foresight, concern, imagination and vision.

Leonard Scharbach presents a Community Impact grant to Sandra and Raelynn Shaughnessy representing the Young Persons and Families with Cancer Society.

In 2004 the Grande Prairie Keg Steakhouse and Bar established four funds in support of four charities as a way to ensure they received long-term support.  With regular and unique fundraising events and challenges  driven by staff and franchise partner, Keith Curtis, together they have been having a positive effect on the community ever since.

In particular, the Young Persons and Families with Cancer organization was awarded a Community Impact grant during the Foundation`s celebration this past December.  As with most charitable organizations in northern Alberta, this charitable group provides services to individuals and families throughout a large geographic area.

Their services include offering a comfort bag program, providing counselling services, offering opportunities for families to network with others in the same situation as well as continuing to help maintain a compassionate atmosphere at the regional cancer clinic and QEII hospital during treatment for daily and long-term treatments. The Young Persons and Families with Cancer society also maintain the family room at the QEII Hospital in addition to providing supplies for the teen room at the hospital.

In their work with the Community Foundation, the Grande Prairie Keg Steakhouse and Bar have found a way to give back to the charities they feel the strongest about in a way that will last forever.

In addition to supporting the Young Persons and Families with Cancer society, the staff and management of the Grande Prairie Steakhouse & Bar established the following funds with the Community Foundation:

• Grande Prairie Keg Steakhouse & Bar PARDS fund
• Grande Prairie Keg Steakhouse & Bar Pregnant Teen Program fund
• Grande Prairie Keg Steakhouse & Bar QEII Hospital Foundation fund

Thank you to Keith for demonstrating corporate community commitment and for providing mentorship to others in our community.  You lead by example. 

Despite the recent warm temperatures, it promises to be perfect weather

for the inaugural Frost Moon event celebrating all things winter.

Featuring free events, the focus is on bringing people together for some family-style fun.  Dates of the event are February 21 to 24.

Beginning the evening of February 21, everyone is invited to Montrose field located south of the Public Library and the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie where you will find a skating rink, sledding hill, and depending on the weather, snow sculptures.

Warm up at any one of the bonfires located throughout the site to drink your hot chocolate.  Feeling a little hungry?  Head indoors to the Teresa Sargent Hall for a hot dog and other goodies.  Bring your loonies and toonies as there is a nominal cost for food.

Saturday afternoon is the time to have your children fingerprinted as representatives of Safe Communities will be on-hand at a trade show featuring organizations offering family-oriented services to our communities.

And a new take on beach volleyball is Snow Volleyball featuring a glow-in-the-dark ball.  Be one of the first to participate in this newly-created sport designed to make you laugh, have fun and join in some family-style, friendly competition.  All ages, all skill-levels are invited.  There is no cost for this event.

And inside a family event featuring live, local entertainment and interactive art courtesy of the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie is scheduled for February 22. There will be a nominal cost for food.

The Art Gallery is also working on a new exhibit entitled The Automatiste Revolution: Montreal 1941 - 1960 which was Canada's avant-garde art movement.  The exhibit opening is Friday, February 22 which is just in time for Frost Moon.  There is no cost for this event.

More events and activities are being planned so follow us on Facebook for updates.  You will find the event schedule here.

If you are looking for a place to make a difference, feel personally satisfied, and be appreciated for your skills, the Community Foundation of Greater Grande Prairie is accepting applications for membership to the Board of Directors.

Embracing the Smart & Caring Communities vision, the Board of Directors works at a governance level to ensure regional residents are served by the Community Foundation and are provided opportunities to strengthen their connection to their community. 

Members of the board are selected for their skills and experiences as well as their commitment to building for the long-term success of regional communities.  Representing a variety of fields including finance, law, marketing, accounting, administration and community development, they draw on their collective wealth of experience to successfully govern the Foundation into the future. 

If you would like to discuss this opportunity or submit a resume in advance of the Annual General Meeting which is scheduled for April 24th, please contact Leonard Scharbach, Chair at (780) 532-2336 or Tracey Vavrek, Executive Director at (780) 538-2820.

The Community Foundation`s Annual General Meeting will take place on April 24, 2013.  Meetings generally take place at 5 pm and include an opportunity to socialize with the Board of Directors, staff, the charitable community, fund holders, and individuals from the corporate, public and private communities.

Watch our site or read the March issue of Community Landscape for more details.

With a strong belief in family, Kim Gravengard enjoys camping, boating, and water skiing.  She regularly plays basketball;  a sport she excelled in as a student both in high school and at college and university.

A relative newcomer to the Community Foundation's Board of Directors, Kim Gravengard has been watching the Foundation over the years and appreciates the way its focus includes northwestern Alberta. 

Always a community-minded individual, Kim sits on a number of boards and committees.  Over the years, she has learned to balance family, work and community life by being selective about where she puts her energies.  She appreciates that by being a part of the Community Foundation board, she is able to positively affect a great many charitable organizations over a greater area. 

"I go to one meeting and accomplish a lot of things in a vast area; geographically that is quite astounding,"  said Kim.  "We are helping to keep our communities alive and growing by assisting those small and very important charitable groups."

A member of the Pomeroy family, Kim grew up in Fort St. John before moving to Grande Prairie to attend college on a basketball scholarship before moving further south to university.  Initially, Kim chose to study education rather than join the family business as she wanted to teach junior high students.  Even then her personal philosophy of "paying it forward" was already well-developed and along with her studies, Kim volunteered to coach mini-basketball.

Kim eventually joined the family business following the tragic death of her husband.  Starting small and working for free, Kim was eventually able to learn what she needed to take over management of the Canadian hotel, the first of many properties to come under her care.   Now overseeing the marketing and stakeholder relations position for the Pomeroy Group, Kim brings a wealth of business experience to the Community Foundation Board of Directors

Always with an eye to the future, the Youth and Young Adult Vital Signs project is of particular interest to Kim who asked, "how do we continue to create value as a board so that when youth are ready to pay it back, they choose the Community Foundation board or one of its committees in order to reciprocate back to their community?"

Welcome Kim.

If refurbishing or renovating is in your future, the following grant opportunity for community groups will have you reaching for your pencil.

Benjamin Moore & Co., Ltd. made a total of $24,000 in cash grants available to community groups in the four western provinces.  The purpose of the grants is to support heritage restoration and community projects.  Along with the grants, which can total up to $4,000, successful projects will also receive donated Benjamin Moore paint and colour expertise.   Grants may be used in the renovation project, or for other program expenses outlined in the application.

Projects supported in the past include the restoration of a small museum, renovation of a youth centre, refurbishing rooms in a women's shelter, contributing to a cutting-edge seniors' residential complex, and restoring one of Canada's original post offices.

Deadlines for applications are as follows:  Central- March 18th 2013, Western- March 21st 2013.  Final decisions will be made in May 2013.

The grants are available through a partnership between Benjamin Moore & Co., Ltd. and the Community Foundations of Canada (CFC).  This well-known icon in the home decorating world chose to work with the CFC because of its extensive grant-making experience and its national network of local community foundations.

Click here for an application form and for more information.