Time is running out to tell us what you think!

Our annual community check up, Vital Signs, is well underway and time is running out! You have until August 15th to log on to www.victoriafoundation.bc.ca and take a few minutes to complete one of our easy online surveys. Only with your input can we identify the issues and opportunities in our community and work together to make our region the best it can be. Know of youth age 15–24? Then please let them know to visit www.whaddayathink.ca and take the Youth Vital Signs survey courtesy of the TELUS Victoria Community Board.

Thank you for matching!

Recently you may have seen, heard or read about the Sun Star Fund’s generous gift of $50,000 for the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness’ Streets to Homes program. With this gift came a challenge to the community to step up and match it. We are pleased to report that as of this week, generous donors of the Foundation and citizens of the community have contributed over $78,000 to match Sun Star’s gift, bringing the total for Streets to Homes to over $128,000!

Welcome to the team

We are pleased to announce the addition of two new staff members, Rory Grewar and Kathryn Righetti.

Rory recently relocated to Victoria to join us as Manager, Provincial Grants. Reporting to the CEO, Rory will be responsible for overseeing scholarship and granting programs the Foundation administers for a variety of diverse stakeholders. Born, raised, and educated in Winnipeg, Rory's career included 15 years of service as a Senior Administrator with the Government of Manitoba. Rory relocated to Vancouver in 2004 to assume the position of Administrative Director at the David Suzuki Foundation. Rory has served on the Boards of several non-profit organizations in both Manitoba and British Columbia.

Born and raised in Victoria, Kathryn joins us as the Grants Assistant. In her new role, Kathryn will be managing grant applications, organizing Community Advisors activities, preparing committee minutes and reports and assisting with general office administration. Kathryn most recently held the position of Office Coordinator at The Prostate Centre. Previously she had a 27 year career with Telus/BC Tel in a variety of roles and was also the Assistant to the CEO of the Greater Victoria Public Library.

Canadian Vital Signs gets international attention

Our Director of Communications, Shannon Drew-Burrows, was recently invited to Pennsylvania to share insight about Canada’s Vital Signs project. In late July, Drew-Burrows traveled to Johnstown, PA (about an hour outside of Pittsburgh) to meet with Pennsylvania Community Foundation executives and senior staff members. The presentation was met with great interest and several foundations have since expressed an interest in creating a similar program for their Pennsylvania communities.

Application Deadline Sept 15

The deadline for applications for funding from the Lex Reynolds Adoption and Permanency Trust Fund for projects commencing in 2011 is September 15th. Details on eligibility and application criteria can be found on the Victoria Foundation website.