About Us
MISSION STATEMENT
To encourage and promote philanthropy and provide a conduit for the receipt and management of gifts and bequests into a permanent endowment fund.
The Society will distribute the endowment income to support local community needs, activities and projects, thereby enriching and strengthening our resilient, resourceful and vital community and environment. This will enhance and ensure the future vitality of the Slocan Valley.
The Society has a particular focus on serving the Slocan Valley – RDCK Area H.
MEET THE BOARD
OUR STORY
Community foundations have a long and successful track record across North America — most major population centres have a Community Foundation that collects donations and invests them in perpetuity, granting the interest to worthy charitable projects. In Canada, the largest community foundation is the Vancouver Foundation, with assets of $750 million.
Civic-minded folk in the Slocan Valley of British Columbia had long identified a need for a community foundation here. In 2009 a spark provided by the Kootenay Savings Credit Union ignited that long-simmering interest.
That year, community foundations across the Kootenays were allocated a total of $1 million from the Kootenay Savings Community Foundation, with the amount given to each foundation being based on number of members at each KSCU branch. This wonderful boost to community foundations resulted in the need to form a Slocan Valley entity to accept the New Denver and South Slocan branch’s allocations that totalled close to $134,000.
With seed funding from KSCU in place, the Osprey Community Foundation based in Nelson B.C. stepped forward in offering organizational support to the formation of a Slocan Valley Legacy Fund, and the Columbia Basin Trust committed an additional $50,000 in matching funds.
STARTING THE LEGACY
It was decided that the most efficient way to proceed would be for our Slocan Valley Legacy Fund to be an affiliate within the Osprey Community Foundation. As a Charitable Foundation registered with the Canada Revenue Agency, Osprey has the capacity to issue tax receipts, handle bookkeeping, and provide the scrupulous fiduciary oversight required of foundations by the federal government.
To promote giving to the Slocan Valley Legacy Fund and provide advice on grants to community groups, a provincially registered Society was incorporated in 2011: the Slocan Valley Community Legacy Society (SVCLS). In April of 2012 the first Annual General Meeting of the Society was held and nine directors were elected. Since that time, the directors have worked diligently on both fundraising and outreach, raising awareness and building the Fund. The SVCLS began awarding grants starting in 2013, and by 2022 had distributed more than $110,000 to deserving groups in the Slocan Valley.
The Slocan Valley Community Legacy Society is dedicated to building a living legacy that supports a resilient, vital, and healthy community. Our Endowment Fund provides grants to charitable organizations that serve the Slocan Valley on an ongoing and sustainable basis. Every donation we receive towards the Fund becomes part of a long term investment in our community.