Centre Wellington Community Foundation (CWCF) is a public, charitable foundation created for and by the people of Centre Wellington. Our mission is to strengthen the Centre Wellington community by helping donors to achieve their giving goals, and by helping local non-profit organizations find resources to support their important work. We welcome your donation. All amounts, small or large, increase our ability to improve our local community of Centre Wellington.
To give in Memory of Caroline Ann Kenny, please donate HERE and choose Caroline Ann Kenny Memorial Fund.
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Let’s join together and give back today, GivingTuesday. This Canadian movement marks the “opening day of the giving season,” when charities, companies and individuals join together to share commitments, rally for favorite causes and think about others. Take the time today to celebrate the non-profit organizations that support our community in so many ways. Everyone is encouraged to support them with your time, talent and/or treasure. If you’d like to support CWCF go to www.GivingTuesday.cwcfoundation.ca, the team of Athol & Jason will match the first $2,000 in donations. This will DOUBLE your IMPACT.
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Read the latest newsletter HERE
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LATEST NEWS: Project Grants Opened April 1st and Closed May 1st
Congratulations to all those that received a Project Grant in 2018.
What’s your project?
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Past Events
Nov 2nd
RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS DAY – Sign up TODAY
On November 2nd our community will be celebrating Random Act of Kindness Day®. Centre Wellington Community Foundation is encouraging local businesses, schools, organizations and individuals to get involved by promoting the day within their own offices, classrooms, boardrooms, and networks. Join the fun by signing up HERE to participate and to receive a free Kindness Kit
Quesstions? Contact Raymond raymond@cwcfoundation.ca, 1.888.713.4083.
You can follow Random Act of Kindness Day Centre Wellington on Twitter by searching #RAKDayCW and on Facebook at facebook.com/CWCFdn
Oct 13th
safeTALK is a half-day training in suicide alertness. It helps participants recognize a person with thoughts of suicide and connect them with resources who can help them in choosing to live. Participants don’t need any formal preparation to attend the training—anyone age 15 or older who wants to make a difference can learn the safeTALK steps
Saturday October 13th 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM, Elora Public Library-Community Room downstairs.
You can find full details and buy tickets ($10 each), CLICK HERE.
June 23rd
safeTALK is a half-day training in suicide alertness. It helps participants recognize a person with thoughts of suicide and connect them with resources who can help them in choosing to live. Participants don’t need any formal preparation to attend the training—anyone age 15 or older who wants to make a difference can learn the safeTALK steps
Saturday June 23rd 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM, Elora Public Library-Community Room downstairs.
You can find full details and buy tickets ($10 each) at http://bit.ly/2sZFaFB.
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Come join us on June 6th for our Public Update and Project Grant Event. It’s a great opportunity for us and the Centre Wellington Community to share successes from the past year and talk about our plans for Community Building in 2018-19. We will also present our 2018 Project Grant recipients, come see what they are planning to do with their CWCF Project Grants. Plus, we are working hard on several new initiatives we plan to present on June 6th.
The event is open to all, free and no registration is required. Meet and Mingle at 7:00 PM with the program starting shortly there after. and Being held at Aboyne Hall, Wellington County Museum. You can get more details HERE.
We would love to see you there.
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GREATEST HITS FUNdraiser is Back!
Come out for a great night of fun, food, music and dancing all in support of our local community and the Centre Wellington Community Foundation.
There will be something for everyone:
- Delicious Local catering
- Live Auction with auctioneer Scott Bessey.
- Silent Auction.
- Music by the incomparable DJ Spenny of Riverfest Elora
Saturday, April 28th 6:30 PM–Midnight @ Elora Legion
Tickets for this gala evening are available for $30 from any Board member, or by emailing tickets@cwcfoundation.ca or online at:
CWCFGreatestHits.EventBrite.ca_
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CWCF Project Grants Public Information Session
March 12th, 2018 @ 7:00 pm
Centre Wellington Sportsplex Boardroom A.
Thinking of applying for a CWCF Project Grant, formerly called Mini Grants? Whether you’re a new applicant to Centre Wellington Community Foundation or want to learn more about making your application the best it can be, please join us at our upcoming information session. We’ll cover timelines, application tips and the review process for CWCF Project Grants, as well as answer any questions you may have.
Free event but please register http://bit.ly/2EEcY2H
RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS DAY
On November 3rd our community will be celebrating Random Act of Kindness Day®. Centre Wellington Community Foundation is encouraging local businesses, schools, organizations and individuals to get involved by promoting the day within their own offices, classrooms, boardrooms, and networks. Contact CWCF to participate and to receive a free Kindness Kit raymond@cwcfoundation.ca, 1.888.713.4083.
You can follow Random Act of Kindness Day Centre Wellington on Twitter by searching #RAKDayCW and on Facebook at facebook.com/CWCFdn
THE BEST OF SOLID GOLD GREATEST HITS!
Come out for a great night of fun, food, music and dancing all in support of our local community and the Centre Wellington Community Foundation.
There will be something for everyone:
- Wonderful food catered by CWDHS Food School under the guidance of virtuoso Chef Christopher Jess.
- Live Auction with auctioneer Scott Bessey.
- Silent Auction.
- Live band is our very own The Potion Kings
Saturday May 6, 7 pm – 1 am
Elora Legion
Tickets for this gala evening are available for $50 from any Board member, or by emailing tickets@cwcfoundation.ca or online at:
CWCFGreatestHits.EventBrite.ca
ANNOUNCING 2017 MINI GRANTS INFORMATION MEETING
Once again we are pleased to support great community initiatives with our 2017 Mini Grant Program. Applications will be available at this website starting April 15th with a deadline for submissions of May 15th.
Building on last year’s major grants to local Canada 150 initiatives, we will be unveiling, just for 2017, additional funding opportunities for local initiatives fitting the Canada 150 themes and criteria.
Let’s continue to “Dream big for 150.”
We strongly encourage anyone interested in 2017 Mini Grant funding to attend our public meeting:
Thursday April 6, 7 pm
Fergus Sportsplex, Boardroom B
ANNOUNCING CFC150 GRANTS and PUBLIC INFORMATION MEETING
We are pleased to announce that granting is open for Community Fund for Canada’s 150th in Centre Wellington, a partnership between Community Foundations of Canada and CWCF.
As you work to “dream big for 2017”, please check the CFC 150 Grant Submission page for more information. To help navigate the process, and to ensure strong community co-operation around 2017, we strongly encourage anyone interested in 2017 activities to attend our public meeting:
Wednesday October 12, 7 pm
Fergus Sportsplex, Boardroom B
VITAL CONVERSATION: A COMMUNITY FOOD CENTRE
As we continue to build on our 2015 Vital Signs Report, we have committed to work with local community groups, through Vital Conversations, to help find paths to change and improvement.
Partnering with Centre Wellington Food Bank, Centre Wellington Social Justice Group and the newly formed Centre Wellington Alliance for Good Food, Steve Stacey of the Local Community Food Centre in Stratford will explore with us this new model for food security.
Wednesday October 5, 7 to 9 pm
Free Admission
Moderated by Curt Hammond of Pearl Street Communications, this interactive talk will help us figure out ways to move forward locally.
CELEBRATING THE ELORA GREEN SPACE
Wonderful news. A five year community campaign to transform the environmental cleanup legacy of a 1930’s gas station to “the new centre of Elora” has finally been paid off. CWCF is pleased to have been able to help out this fundraising with our Elora Green Space Fund. This is a project that is loved by tourists and locals alike.
To learn more, listen to an interview on May 31, 2016 on Swap Talk on The Grand 101.1 where our very own board member Jason Thompson is in dialogue with tireless citizen volunteer (and councillor) Kirk McElwain and Elora BIA Administrator Fred Gordon.
2016 MINI-GRANTSANNOUNCED
There was a great turnout last night at Wellington County Museum when we revealed the 8 wonderful community projects receiving a Mini-Grant from four of our funds. It was particularly poignant to hear each of the projects tell a story of their impact in the community and how they enrich all our lives.
We began with an update on the last year’s activities for CWCF, including our Vital Conversations follow on to last year’s Vital Signs report and an update on the other grants that the Foundation has issued.
Check out our presentation for more details:
Seeking COMMUNITY FOUNDATION COORDINATOR
To help us better engage our community and grow our activities, we are seeking an exceptional individual to be our first Community Foundation Coordinator.
Applications are now closed.
Stay tuned as we announce our new team member shortly.
JOIN US FOR OUR 2016 PUBLIC MEETING
Ukelele Program at John Black School
Here is a great chance to learn more about your community foundation and to learn about the successful 2016 Mini Grants. Building on some great community projects we have funded since 2012, this year prioritized issue areas identified in the 2015 Centre Wellington Vital Signs report. Please join us:
Thursday May 12, 2016 at 7:00 pm
Nicholas Keith Room,
Wellington County Museum and Archives
Meet and mingle, followed by an update on mini-grants, our progress and Vital Signs.
Please RSVP to info@cwcfoundation.ca
CWCF GRANTS $5000 FOR EMERGENCY MESSAGING
We are excited to announce that at The Grand 101 Gala on Saturday February 13, 2016 at Elora Community Centre, that CWCF supported the ircritical emergency messaging project with $5000 coming from Kate and Margot Fund and Middlebrook Community Fund. More details are in the press release.
VITAL SIGNS LAUNCH EVENT!
We join communities across Canada to launch our first ever Vital Signs report specifically for Centre Wellington. The report was launched to a full room at Aboyne Hall where we challenged our community to start the dialogue. Click on the photo for more information and the report.
Jason and Athol Toasting Success
Jason Thompson and Athol love to engage community in some very creative fundraising events that definitely move the needle: Click here to read their story. Thanks for your creativity and passion for community.
Through a wonderful community collaboration, the Elora Green Space has transformed the historic heart of Elora. Generous in-kind and cash contributions by many organizations and individuals have left us with a mere $15,000 left to raise, representing about 5% of the overall project cost puts us on the home stretch.
We are counting on the committed generosity of our community to together raise that $15,000 by year end. Now in March, over $8000 has been raised to pay off the Green Space. Together we can get this paid off:
- Via cheque at Elora Information Centre, 9 East Mill, Elora, where the staff has donation forms,
- Click the above links to donate online via CanadaHelps, or
- Use the cash jars found at several Elora BIA merchants (no receipts possible)
At our June Annual Community Gathering, we revealed the community projects receiving 2014 Mini Grants. Click here for a detailed information on our successful mini-grant applicants.
That evening, there was also an engaging panel of various community leaders exploring various aspects of our community – what it can be and what is still needed.
A previous mini-grant recipient, Stephanie Lines-Toohill so engagingly described the community interconnections and overall impact of her Tutu in You – Elora Monster Month Parade initiative in support of Centre Wellington Foodbank.
Running a fundraising event? Perhaps you are looking for a good way to support charitable works right here in our community. We have prepared a THIRD PARTY FUNDRAISING TOOLKIT so you can support great community projects via your Community Foundation. More details here.
Tivoli Films video interview with Katherine Dennis, the first ever winner of the Middlebrook Prize for Young Canadian Curators at Elora Centre for the Arts. The prize was funded by Middlebrook Social Innovation Fund at CWCF:
We celebrate the life and community giving of the late Rhoda Lipton, a founding Board member of CWCF and also creator of our first Donor Advised Fund. She has been an inspiration to all of us. Read her story here.
