The Winkler Community Foundation (WCF) held its annual general meeting on Monday (March 20th).

President Corey Hildebrand says the Foundation had a wonderful year.

"We had so many reasons to celebrate. We had a really great Pay-It-Forward May; we heard lots of really wonderful things from our Gordon Wiebe scholars; we had our first-ever cider and wine pairing event which was a huge success. And our community granting season - we granted a lot of dollars this year and that was very successful for us."

The foundation was also pleased to report a great number of donations over the past year. Hildebrand pointed to one in particular.

"About three years ago, we set a goal as a board of directors to reach a $1,000,000 community fund balance. We knew it was pretty lofty. We gave ourselves five years to do that. Then we had our Giving Challenge this year which actually brought in $182,000 in one week. We were actually the top foundation in all of Manitoba during the Giving Challenge. And so it allowed us to reach our goal two years early, which was a massive success for Winkler. It speaks so much to the generosity of our community."

According to Executive Director Myra Peters, the foundation granted $182,848 in 2022, including $85,000 from the Gordon Wiebe Scholarship Fund and $26,033 from the Community Fund. 

Grant recipients included Flatlands Theatre Company (laptop), Central Station Community Centre (tables/chairs for Cafe 545), Winkler Skating Club (jump assist harness), and the Pembina Valley Pregnancy Care Centre (meeting room).

"Hearing stories of impact from the work of the Winkler Community Foundation always warms my heart," said Peters. "Working for the WCF continues to be rewarding. From awarding scholarships to young people to granting to charities to working with Youth in Philanthropy, community groups, and donors, the WCF is here to support the community."

The passion, intellect, insight, experience, and vision of two departing executives were recognized at the meeting. Justin Funk completed 9 years as Treasurer, and Rob Unruh completed 6 years filling many roles including the Executive and the Scholarship committee. Two new faces with a wealth of experience will fill those vacancies: Chad Harder and former member Tena Lane. 

Hildebrand has noticed a higher level of engagement with the community, something they hope to build on.

"We're going to try to make sure that we're finding ways to inspire our community and the citizens here to pay it forward. Right now we are busy in our scholarship season, working through reading all the applications for all of the scholarships that we have. We will be making some announcements in a little while about our winners of the Make it a Reality scholarship as well as the ongoing Education Support scholarships. That's such a massive part of our foundation. So we are right in the thick of that.

Hildebrand says while the returns on their investments were lower than hoped for, the community was still incredibly generous in its support.