Friday, 01 November 2024 09:18

Eric & Barb Ekin bequest $100,000 to Foundation

 

A great monetary gift to the Boissevain and Morton Foundation is continuing the great work started 50 years ago.

The group received a new major donation this year. After Eric Ekin passed away in 2023, the Foundation was notified they would be receiving $100,000 to start the Eric and Barb Ekin Legacy Fund. Barb had passed in 2021. The couple had married in 1968 and farmed in the RM of Morton, with Eric remaining active with the cattle until the summer of 2023. Clyne said they are very much thrilled with the news.

“It was a pleasant surprise. It is more money to invest and that will mean more money to the community. It is in the undesignated, so it will go into the pot for all of the grants we give out each year.”

Clyne added they have a few such funds, and would like to see that grow into the future.

The Foundation is preparing for its annual granting evening on November 14. They have made the decisions about who will be receiving undesignated funds, but for now that is confidential. However, they will be giving out about $94,000 this year in undesignated, and $220,000 overall. According to Foundation Board member Wendy Clyne, all is going well.

“It’s great, we had a really good year,” Clyne stated. “It’s always great to give away money.”

The Foundation had its beginnings about half a century ago. A person who had lived in Boissevain donated $30,000 to the Winnipeg Foundation, and it was said she would have donated it here if there were such a thing in town. A foundation allows for donations to be invested with only the interest given out. This idea got back to local businessman Ed Clark, who got the ball rolling. The Boissevain & Morton Foundation was incorporated in 1975. Dr. Bird made the first donation. Today, the local Foundation has grown to over $5 million.

Over the years, the Foundation has donated to many worthwhile projects in town, to the point where very few can claim to not have had a grant from the organization. Different groups receive annual amounts, there are bursaries for school students, youth sports and a number of other worthwhile causes. There are two types of donations. One is designated where the donor specifies where the interest goes, and undesignated, where the board makes annual decisions.

This year, Clyne said there were over 20 applications for grants in which the board had to look at closely. There were tough choices as there always are, but she added the organizations should be pleased with what they receive.

The Foundation grew over the years, and by 2004 it was felt there was a need for a paid staff person. Sally Hoppe had been taking care of the books as a volunteer, and she was replaced by Raylene Conway-Smith as Executive-Director. At the time, the offices were in the basement of the Civic Centre, but by 2005, they moved to the Countryland Realty building. Conway-Smith has been the steady face among changing board members for 19 years, but decided to call it quits this past summer.

“I had been doing it for almost 20 years, and that was long enough,” Conway-Smith stated. “I worked it in with my other jobs. I got to work with a lot of great volunteers for 20 years, but it was time.”

Conway-Smith said she  enjoyed watching the Foundation’s assets grow from $1.5 million to $5 million. One change over the years was moving away from direct investing. It became difficult to recruit board members with the risks of this, so in 2008, board member Kennedy Cohoe approached the Winnipeg Foundation about partnering. It was costly in the short term, as the markets crashed and about $500,000 was lost in the transfer. Not all was done at once, which limited the losses, but she said it took many years to fully recover. However, all is obviously good now, and Winnipeg now handles the financial decisions.

Clyne said they knew Conway-Smith was leaving in the summer, and they have been able to lean a little on assistant director Maxine Graham. They have since hired a new executive director, who will be no stranger to the community. Carol Light has been a coach in the Boissevain Skating Club since 2010 and is owner with husband Chris of the Turtle Mountain Resort at Lake Metigoshe. She and Chris have moved to town and Light said she is looking forward to her new position.

“This position really mixes my strong connection to volunteerism and growing the community we live in with my education, volunteer and business experiences,” Light stated. “I am looking forward to getting to know the position, engaging with our caring investors and building lasting partnerships in order to move towards a sustainable future for our community”

Clyne said they are very thankful for the contribution Conway-Smith has made over the years, and feel they have made a good choice with Light.

Giving Challenge

As well as the granting evening, November will bring the Endow Manitoba Giving Challenge from November 12-17. During this week, donations to participating foundations will be stretched by the Winnipeg Foundation and Province of Manitoba. A $5 donation becomes $7 up to $10,000. Clyne said they always participate and make the top amount. It is a big contributor to the organization’s success.

They will also be looking for a couple of board members. Clyne said she and Jane Robertson are at the end of their terms. The Foundation likes to have board members who represent the entire community in its different aspects. Clyne said she enjoyed her time on the board, and was glad to serve on such an important committee.

The granting night will be at the Curling Club. Apart from the groups receiving money, they do not often have many people show up, but Clyne said they would like to see more. It would be great for people to come and see where the money is going, to see who is benefitting from the donations.

She gives credit to the people with the foresight in starting the Foundation and to all who have given to it. More and more people are seeing the organization as the place to donate to in order to make the biggest contribution to the community.

“When you look at it, you would be hard pressed to find an organization that has not benefited from it,” Clyne said. “We are very fortunate to have it.”

by PAUL RAYNER, Recorder staff

 

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