Challenge accepted, challenge met!

Details

Published on Friday, November 24, 2017

Photo by Kate Jackman-Atkinson
Greg Crisanti (left), co-owner of the Neepawa Tim Horton’s franchise, presented BPCF chair Brad Walker with a cheque for $4,759 at the Donor Appreciation Night.  The cheque represented proceeds from this year’s Smile Cookie campaign.

Kate Jackman - Atkinson
Neepawa Banner & Press

Last Saturday, a challenge was issued to all Manitobans and Neepawa area residents stepped up to meet it head on. On Nov. 18, money donated to community foundations in Manitoba received an added boost as part of the Endow Manitoba 24-Hour Giving Challenge. Funded by the Winnipeg Foundation and the Province of Manitoba, for every $5 donated, the Winnipeg Foundation added $1, up to a maximum of $2,000 per foundation, and the province also added $1, up to a maximum of $2,000 per foundation, meaning that every $5 donated became $7.

Fourth Year

This was the fourth year for the challenge and after raising $18,000 in 2016, the Beautiful Plains Community Foundation (BPCF) saw donations totalling over $45,000 in 2017.  “The response this year was phenomenal,” said BPCF executive director Brenda Kryschuk, adding that donations made during the challenge have significantly increased over time, as donors better understand the event. She explained that once the matching dollars are received, they are expecting to add between $49,000 and $50,000 to the Community Fund, which is the general fund out of which annual grants are made to needed community projects in the Town of Neepawa, RM of Rosedale, RM of Glenella-Lansdowne and what was the RM of Langford. In total, the money donated on Nov. 18 will allow the Foundation to give out an extra $2,000 in annual grants, starting in 2019.

“Matching dollars are a big incentive for donors,” said Kryschuk, adding that many donors strategically chose Nov. 18 as the date to make their donation. Donations received that day included annual donations, such as those to the Decade Club, as well as special ones. For example, the Lowry family chose that day to make their $15,000 donation, which was part of the Foundation’s ongoing Canada 150 challenge. Kryschuk said she had interested donors contact her following the challenge asking whether their donations would still result in matching dollars for the organization.

Donor Recognition Evening

The Giving Challenge topped off a big week for the Foundation, which also held its Donor Recognition evening on Nov. 14.  Operating under a new format, the evening was a celebration to which anyone who had donated in the last two years was invited to attend. “It was a really good night, incredibly positive,” said Kryschuk of the event, which offered donors a chance to socialize, as well as hear from grant recipients. Hazel M Kellington principal Allen Hanke talked about the impact support from the Foundation has had on large projects they have undertaken, including the new playground, which opened this summer, and climbing wall, which opened about three years ago. Amanda Naughton-Gale, of the Neepawa Salvation Army, spoke about how grants from the Foundation helped them achieve their goal of moving to a larger, better suited location. Jamie Denbow, of Neepawa Minor Hockey, spoke about being both a donor and a recipient. The evening was also an opportunity to present a grant cheque to the Beautiful Plains Museum and board members Helen Drysdale and Rudy Jarema spoke about how the money was being used to improve the museum. Dennis Magwood, of the Franklin Memorial Hall, spoke about how support from the Foundation has helped them transform the hall.

New Scholarship

While the details have still to be finalized, the week also saw the Foundation accept a $13,000 donation to establish a new scholarship fund.  The $500 scholarship will be given out starting in 2019 and will be targeted towards a student who has had to overcome some kind of challenge or barrier.