GRAND BEND — The spirit of giving is alive and well in Grand Bend, and was celebrated by community members at the Grand Bend Community Foundation's (GBCF) Annual Donor and Grant Celebration on Saturday.

“We are celebrating community, vitality, partnership, volunteerism, generosity, innovation, leadership. All the things that make Grand Bend such a wonderful community,” said outgoing chairperson David Bannister.

The big story this year came on the donor side. The GBCF received gifts totaling $106,000 last year. Major gifts were received from Jean Muma for the MJ Muma

Endowment Fund and Nancy Poole creating the Charlotte Edwards Robinson Memorial Fund for the Arts.  The annual fundraising drive brought in more than $10,000 in individual contributions to support grants in 2010.  

“By believing in and investing in the Foundation, you have made a real difference to all of us,” said Bob Illman, chairperson of the Legacy Committee, in his remarks.  

“And your gifts will continue to make a difference for many years to come. The more resources the Foundation has, the more good we can do in this community.”

On the granting side, there were four recipients receiving a total of $38,500. The Friends of the Pinery, Our Lady of Mount Carmel School and the Grand Bend Home and School Association's Wheelchair Accessible Playground Campaign received a total of $13,500.     

“The Grand Bend Community Foundation has been so generous,” said Susan Manz, principal of Grand Bend Public School. “The educational experience of the students at the school has been so enriched by the opportunities created through the grants from the Foundation. It also sets a real example for volunteerism and gifting for our students.”

The Foundation also facilitated a bequest from the late Dorothy Child of Grand Cove Estates. The Grand Bend Area Community Health Centre received $25,000 in the flow-through grant.

“My committee members and I get to review grant applications from many of our wonderful community organizations,” said grants committee chairperson Chris Thompson. “We see so many great ideas and so much community vitality reflected in those applications,.

Over the last decade, the Grand Bend Community Foundation has granted nearly $800,000 to local groups and organizations to “make great things happen for all.”

“Our donors and grant applicants enrich our community in so many ways,” said incoming chairperson of the Foundation Pat Morden. “On behalf of the whole community, we are taking this opportunity to thank them for everything they do.”

The Grand Bend Community Foundation was created in 2002 with proceeds from the sale of the Grand Bend PUC. The Foundation manages the funds entrusted to it, supports initiatives that contribute to the vitality of our community, and acts as a leader and catalyst.