Welcome to the Oakville Community Foundation’s Initiative Reports. The Foundation will be sharing Initiative Reports on a number of our initiatives and activities, serving as a way of sharing with you, our donors, the success that has resulted from your generosity and the hard work of the teams that organize them. We hope you will continue to support these initiatives. Other Initiative Reports Debwewin: The Oakville Truth Project The post Initiative Report – Community Classroom appeared first on Oakville Community Foundation ..read more

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Oakville, Ont., February 6, 2024 – The Community Education Awards Hub has reopened for its fifth year, with more scholarships, bursaries and education awards for Oakville students, with awards valued between $750 and $20,000. Created in 2020, the Oakville Community Foundation set out to make administering and applying for scholarships, bursaries and educational awards an easier process for both organizations and students. The Awards Hub was accessed by more than 1,200 students last year and used by 2,800 students since it opened. The Awards Hub hosts scholarship and bursa ..read more

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Oakville, Ont., January 22, 2024 – The Oakville Community Foundation’s Community Classroom is back with new free, interactive content, including in-class activities and performances for the first time since 2019. Community Classroom was developed in 2018 with the goal of “No Child Left Behind”, addressing the unequal access to community programs and local arts, culture, heritage and environmental organizations in the community. This year’s programming features in-class live instruction, available to students in Oakville, and pre-recorded videos, available to all students ..read more

By: Binu Dhas, Chair of the Governance and Nominating Committee Today we are announcing the update to The Foundation’s Reconciliation, Equity and Anti-Racism Statement as well as the equity-focused top-up funding for the 2023 GIVEOakville campaign. Reconciliation, Equity and Anti-Racism Statement The Statement was originally developed in 2022 as a commitment to reduce inequities in our operations and our community, in turn creating a welcoming and safe environment for everyone— a community where no one is left behind. As we recognized at the original time of publication, “this statement is not ..read more

By Gosha G.S. Sekhon, LL.B., TEP, Principal Lawyer and Owner of Sekhon Legal Services Fred and Helen* recently approached me to update their estate plan. One of their goals was to leave a sizeable gift to charity but with flexibility on how the gift is distributed. They had been meaning to establish this gift for years but thought the process would be complex and time-consuming.   During our initial meeting, we determined that a Donor Advised Fund (“DAF”) would be the best way to meet their short and long-term goals. A DAF is a giving account established at a public charity that allo ..read more

Let’s get DAFfy! What do we mean by DAFfy? (hint: we are not talking about the duck!) We’re talking about creating  a “Donor Advised Fund” For You – at the Oakville Community Foundation. Here is our list of the top 10 reasons why charitable people get DAFfy at The Foundation: 10. No money down! You can start a Fund at any price point with a number of different options, including $0 down, a lump sum or staggered contributions. All DAFs grow based on donations, there are no upfront payments. 9. Same day service! On the same business day we can set up a Memorial Fund to receive most types of ..read more

Welcome to the Oakville Community Foundation’s first Initiative Report. The Foundation will be sharing Initiative Reports on a number of our initiatives and activities, serving as a way of sharing with you, our donors, the success that has resulted from your generosity and the hard work of the teams that organize them. We hope you will continue to support these initiatives ..read more

By: Angela Bellegard, Debwewin Advisory Council Member Special to the Oakville Community Foundation A meaningful act of Indigenous Reconciliation occurred in Oakville recently.  It was the second day of school for many families in Oakville and for others, their minds were focused on the hustle and bustle of a new month. Personally, I was trying to vigorously shake myself awake to get ready to attend an Indigenous sunrise ceremony that I had been invited to by Oakville Community Foundation. Not an easy task given the booming presence of the thunderbirds through the night that kept me from ..read more

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Oakville, Ont., Aug. 17, 2023 – Today, the Oakville Community Foundation is pleased to announce $587,000 in funding to support 10 organizations in the Oakville community through the Government of Canada’s Community Services Recovery Fund.  The Community Services Recovery Fund is a one-time investment of $400 million by the Government of Canada to help Community Service Organizations, charities, non-profits and Indigenous governing bodies located in Canada adapt, modernize and be better equipped to improve the efficacy, accessibility and sustainability of the communit ..read more

A few weeks ago, the Oakville Community Foundation held its 28th Annual General Meeting of members at the Oakville Galleries in Gairloch Gardens. A number of Fundholders, volunteers, friends and local charities attended as we closed out the year, presented our 2022 Annual Report, recognized retiring Board Members and welcomed new ones. This year, we said thank you to four retiring directors: Bonnie Jackson, Rob Budhwa, Vik Sachdev and Brian Hanna. We are grateful to them all for their tireless work and service and happy to continue working with each of them as Fundholders. We also had the oppo ..read more