10 Dec

Community Foundation of Whistler launches Social Action Challenge

The Community Foundation of Whistler has received a gift of $60,000 to the Jill Ackhurst Social Action Fund and is challenging the community to help us double this gift and turn it into $120,000 for the fund. The Jill Ackhurst Fund was created in 2004 in honour of Jill who passed away from cancer 10 years ago this December. Recently her father Gordon passed away and left a bequest of $60,000 to the fund created in his daughter’s memory.

Jill dedicated herself to community development and took a hands-on approach to resolving social issues in the Sea to Sky corridor. The Jill Ackhurst Social Action fund supports projects that identify and resolve community health or social issues. Donations to this endowment fund are invested and the income generates annual grants that support initiatives in the community.

In 2013 the fund supported a grant to the Whistler Waldorf School for their anti-bullying program. The program, based on the social inclusion approach, has also been made available to parents and teachers of School District 48. The Jill Ackhurst Social Action Fund also awarded a grant to the Zero Ceiling Society for their mountain bike program benefiting local at-risk youth. Visit our website to read this story.

The fund also seeks to identity social issues in the community. Recently the fund supported a Community Needs survey conducted by Whistler Community Services. WCSS surveyed a variety of local social service providers. The survey, while only preliminary in nature, identified inadequate mental health services, a lack of affordable and safe childcare, and transportation for those of low income as among the top social issues in the community. The report can be downloaded from our website at: www.whistlerfoundation.com

The Social Action Challenge will be launched on November 21^st at the Jill Ackhurst Welcome Dinner and will run until December 31, 2013. Community members can make donations online at www.whistlerfoundation.com or contact the community foundation at info@whistlerfoundation.com to make a contribution to the Jill Ackhurst Social Action Fund. Gifts of any amount will be gratefully received. This is a wonderful opportunity to double the impact for social action. For example, a gift of $100 becomes a $200 contribution to the fund. All donations are eligible for a charitable donation receipt.

If we can meet our goal of doubling the contribution to the fund, this will effectively double the amount of money available to grant to the community each year in the future.

The Community Foundation of Whistler manages donations as long term investments in the community, supporting grants to local charities year after year. We are building a community where charities have long term sources of stable funding to support the full range of community life. As the only local option for creating a permanent personal legacy for your community, we help donors to support the causes they care about. The Community Foundation of Whistler is working to bring the community together to grow and ensure our solid tomorrow.