Today is a great day at the Community Foundation of Greater Grande Prairie.  The Board of Directors and staff  are very pleased to present fifteen post-secondary students with awards at a special ceremony in Grande Prairie.  They are especially pleased that some of the fund holders were also able to be present at the ceremony.

Since the Foundation's inception 15 years ago, the Board of Directors, Foundation Ambassadors, and staff have been working together with Peace Country residents and organizations to help create a strong community and by extension, a stronger region.

A big part of reaching this goal is by ensuring there are strong leaders, both now and in the future.  The Foundation has been very fortunate to have many like-minded Peace Country citizens and agencies that had the foresight and vision to recognize this need and to follow through by establishing a student award endowment fund with the Community Foundation.

In its simplest terms, Community Foundations are a public foundation that helps people give back to the communities they care about in a way that is easy, convenient and lasting.  The focus is on improving our communities by pooling the charitable gifts of donors to create endowment funds and use the investment income to make grants such as the student awards.

Student award funds are established by an individual donor, a group or an organization through donations, fundraising efforts or a bequest.  It is the Foundation's role to ensure the fund's awards are dispersed according to the criteria developed when the fund was established and that awards conform to the donor's wishes.

The awards, which total to just over $21,000, are being presented to students from the communities of Grande Prairie, Valleyview, Fairview, Hines Creek, and Spirit River.  This brings the total community grants and student awards presented to local Peace Country agencies and students in 2011 to just over $51,000.

Over the past 15 years the Community Foundation has dispersed almost $3.8 million to the Peace Country area in support of over 470 charitable programs and projects.

That is impressive because it was all made possible by some very forward-thinking, community-minded individuals and organizations.

Following is the list of 2011 student award recipients.  Congratulations everyone!

Grahm Hoehn, Civil Engineering, University of Alberta

Lorne Howey, University Transfer Sciences, Grande Prairie Regional College

Kimberly MacDougall, Political Science, Grande Prairie Regional College

Kylie Nikiforuk, Bachelor of Science - Nursing, Grande Prairie Regional College

Tegan Ruether, Bachelor of Science - Nursing, Grande Prairie Regional College

Kayla Glas, Bachelor of Science - Nursing, Grande Prairie Regional College

Rachelle Martineau, Bachelor of Science - Nursing, Grande Prairie Regional College

Carly Denis, Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Grande Prairie Regional College

Janet Farnquist, Fine Arts/Digital Design, Grande Prairie Regional College

Sheila Unruh, Teacher Education North, University of Alberta

Richard Wong, Bachelor of Arts Co-op Psychology, University of Alberta

Lucas McMahon, Ancient & Medieval History, University of Calgary

Deanna Konno, Bachelor of PE & Ed, Grande Prairie Regional College

Paola Martinez-Aedo, English as a second language, Grande Prairie Regional College

Kayla Spragg, Bachelor of Education, Grande Prairie Regional College

Gordon Pearcy reviews student applications to the Pearcy Family Fund for 2011.  The fund provides an annual award to post secondary students enrolled in an education or health-related program.

A Lasting Legacy

The first student award established with the Community Foundation of Greater Grande Prairie turned eleven years old this month.

Danielle Commandeur

For Danielle Commandeur, receiving the 2010 Aquatera Environment Fund student award meant she could complete her post-secondary education.  She was enrolled in a Bachelor of Management program offered jointly through the University of Athabasca and Grande Prairie Regional College.

Already operating on a "shoestring budget," new financial pressures affected Danielle's ability to pay her tuition.  As it was, she was working part time, attending university full time, raising three children and working hard to maintain her family.  A workplace injury severely affected her husband's ability to contribute in a more fiscal way, although he was holding down the home front while Danielle spent hours studying in the library.

Their hard work paid off as Danielle achieved a first class standing and earned a place on the Dean's list during the 2009/2010 academic year.

With the couple's financial circumstances severely strained at the beginning of the 2010/2011 academic year, Danielle had toyed with the idea of using some of the family income to pay for her schooling but would not do it because she felt it would be taking away from her family.  The only other option available to her was to withdraw from university and return to working fulltime.  At the time of the 2010 student awards, she was seriously considering this course of action.

Then she got the happy news.

"The award came right when the final bill was due for tuition," she said. "Without [it] I wouldn't have been able to complete my program."

For Bernd Manz, CEO for Aquatera Utilities Inc., this is great news.

"Aquatera is committed to giving back to the Peace Country," he said.  "One way we do this is by supporting local post-secondary students to ensure they can return and work in their community.

Helping to create a stable pool of skilled workers with roots here helps strengthens the whole region, regardless of whether they work for Aquatera, nor not."

Now in the final year of her program, Danielle is working on her Human Resource Designation through Athabasca University.  She recently accepted a new job that will see her working for the Grande Prairie Chamber of Commerce at the beginning of the New Year.

Congratulations, Danielle!

Leonard Scharbach (far left), Vice Chair of the Community Foundation of Greater Grande Prairie, along with Ray and Pat Sears (far right) present student award on behalf of Ryley Labant/Dreger.  Ryley was unable to attend the ceremony so his father(pictured here) accepted on his behalf.

Ryley Labant/Dreger

Ryley Labant-Dreger Ryley graduated from Sexsmith Secondary School with excellent marks and worked hard to earn money to help pay his way through university.  He also applied for student loans and his marks won him some scholarships.  Even with all this supporting him, he still needed a little help.

"Last year I had to buy a lot of textbooks and the cost was significant," said Ryley. "Actually, it was the main cost that I had to deal with."

Consequently, Ryley was very grateful when he received the good news that he would receive a 2010 student award from the Brent Sears Memorial Fund held at the Community Foundation of Greater Grande Prairie.

A strong advocate for education, Brent earned a Bachelor of Science, a Bachelor of Education, and a Masters of Business Administration in Agriculture.  He put his extensive education to good use.  In addition to working the family farm, he later became a teacher at Sexsmith Secondary School and was also known as a scientist.  Sadly, a car accident claimed his life in 1984 at the age of 39.

Brent's parents, Ray and Pat Sears, began working with the Community Foundation of Greater Grande Prairie to administer the Brent Sears Memorial Fund which was established in 2010.

This legacy fund seeks to support graduates from Sexsmith Secondary School who are enrolled in a post-secondary course of study.   Preference is given to students studying in the areas of agriculture, trades, education, or animal science as these were areas that Brent was passionate about.

Currently in his second year, Ryley is still feeling the benefits of the award because he was able to reuse some of the textbooks from his first year.

Once he has completed his studies, Ryley plans to return to the Peace Country to work and live.

Holiday charitable gifts are a wonderful way to support the community that is important to you.  It provides you with the opportunity in supporting your community, the place you call home and provides you with a tax savings.

A Christmas donation made on your own, as a family or with a group of friends or colleagues, is the kind of gift that can gift you back.  In Alberta personal tax credits for 2011 for a charitable donation is up to 50%.

There is still have time to take advantage of the 2011 tax savings if you donate before year end.  You can make your gift on-line by visiting our website at www.buildingtomorrowtoday.com, telephoning us at 780-538-2820 or visiting us in person before December 23, 2011. You will find us on the second floor of Centre 2000.

If you mail a cheque, we will still be able to issue a 2011 taxable receipt, the envelope must have a December 2011 postmark stamped by Canada Post.  Please make your cheque payable to Community Foundation of Greater Grande Prairie.