Westshore Community Foundation Donor Appreciation and Scholarship Bursary Award Winner Reception
The Westshore Community Foundation, Inc was created in 1997. The Foundation held an Annual General Meeting to which donors to and supporters of the Foundation were invited. The meetings were usually held at the Lakeview with coffee available. The response/attendance was very limited which indicated that there may not be the interest in or knowledge of the Westshore Foundation.
In 2005 the Province of Manitoba, through the Ministry of Advanced Education and Training, funded Manitoba Community Foundations Scholarship and Bursary Building Incentive Program. The goal was to encourage local Communities to create long term educational endowments. It was to be administered by The Winnipeg Foundation. The program was to be of a five years duration with matching funds determined yearly on a percentage basis and awarded to deserving students who fell under a pre-determined criteria which stated that “the recipient must be facing the added financial burden of relocating their residence to a different community in order to pursue their academic studies” and being Northern/Rural citizens.
On November 23, 2005, The Westshore Community Foundation made the motion to create The Westshore Community Foundation Scholarship Bursary Fund. The Scholarship Bursary committee was established with the first members being Don Matthewson, Mike Devlin and Connie Magnusson Schimnowski. The committee, with the Board’s support decided to award the successful scholarship applicants at a special evening that would not only highlight the winners but also extent appreciation to our donors, supporters and sponsors of the Westshore Community Foundation. On October 5, 2007, the first semi formal Donor Appreciation and Scholarship Awards event was held at the Lakeview Resort with hot appetizers, table clothes, napkins and fall decorations along with greetings from the president of “The Foundation” and testimonials from grant recipients. The highlight of the evening is the announcement and awarding of the scholarships to the successful students whose parents and significant others are also in attendance and very proud of their young people. The attendance has been very rewarding with the plan of hosting 75 people. The event has been covered by the local media which places the information in “The Spectator” along with pictures of the Scholarship winners. The event is held the first Friday of October each year. The sponsors of our Awards and Appreciation Night have been the Gimli and Arborg Credit Union in the past which is now Noventis Credit Union and this year, Pierce Distillers Agency.
Submitted by; Connie Magnusson Schimnowski
Chair; The Westshore Community Foundation Scholarship Bursary Fund committee
