At its annual meeting last week, Morden Area Foundation board chair Brad Ritchie reflected on how far the agency has come in the more than three decades since its inception.
“It keeps building,” Ritchie said last Wednesday as the foundation gathered to hand out its most recent grants at the Morden Legion hall.
“The responsibilities that the board members carry, they become more significant. They become different but they become more significant,” he reflected. “We recognize our role has expanded, not only in giving out money but growing the endowment and learning about what the needs of the community are because it’s becoming a more and more diverse community. We certainly try to have a very broad knowledge of what’s happening in Morden and area.”
The foundation reported revenue of over $404,000 for the past year, over $341,000 of which was in investment income. Meanwhile, expenses came in at just over $378,000, with a majority of that in grants that totalled over $310,000, resulting in a surplus of over $26,000.
The foundation currently has overall investments that increased in value to over $7.2 million.
Some of the major funds that contribute to that overall total include the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre sustainability fund (valued at over $1.7 million), the Thomas Sill Foundation fund (over $1.3 million), the foundation’s general community fund (over $1.1 million), the Learn and Return health care bursary (over $679,000), the Morden Area Foundation support fund (over $416,000), Power of the Purse (over $178,000) recreation and sport fund (over $147,000), the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame (over $125,000), William and Colleen Lyne Scholarship fund (over $122,000), the Morden Area Foundation managed fund (over $108,000), and the City of Morden fund (over $103,000).
Ritchie also highlighted the success of some of the foundation’s initiatives including the Giving Week Challenge, which was boosted by donations from Decor Cabinets and the estate of Harold Bollenbach along with matching funds from the province and Winnipeg Foundation.
Other initiatives ranged from the annual Citizen of Distinction Award to the Power of the Purse fundraiser to the ongoing work of the Youth in Philanthropy group at Morden Collegiate
Ritchie said the annual meeting and grants night offered a great opportunity to promote and raise awareness of the foundation.
“It’s our chance to share with the community where we are from a number of aspects, certainly from a financial perspective because we are an endowment, and where we are about growing the endowment and sharing the growth with all the worthy grant applications that come in on an annual basis,” he said.
“And also it’s an opportunity to rekindle awareness about who we are, what we do and how people can support the foundation, as we need support so we can continue to support our growing community and the other increasing challenges that we see.”
Ritchie was also thankful for the board, citing how it is made up of people with a good combination of experience, skills, and knowledge.
He concluded with thanks for the community support that makes it possible.
“We’re very grateful for the generosity of people who give, mostly from Morden but from other parts of the province as well,” Ritchie said. “They see that there’s a need, and they see that we’re filling that need, and they know that when they’re giving to the Morden Area Foundation their money is going to last forever.”
