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Dufferin Community Foundation fills void in the community, says deputy mayor

May 9, 2024   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

The Dufferin Community Foundation funds charities and builds community year after year.

And Michele Fisher, the foundation’s executive director, showed Orangeville council on April 29 just how it accomplishes that feat.

“We like to call ourselves the forever fund for Dufferin County,” she said.

That’s because the organization invests donor gifts into permanent endowed funds. The income earned from interest goes toward grants to charities every year.

“The capital remains largely untouched unless we have a very poor market year,” Fisher said. “What that means is we can continue funding forever.”

The foundation is completely local to the county, she said. And grants go to Dufferin County charities.

“With a community foundation, the way the model goes, there’s no going back to zero,” she said. “There’s no going to the bottom of the mountain.

“You just keep going up the mountain in new steps.”

The crowd at the foundation has the lofty goal to raise $10 million in its first 10 years. That would mean a minimum of $450,000 to local charities every year, she said.

Last year, the foundation distributed about $50,000. So $450,000 is going to be a massive boost to local charities.

After the foundation’s first five years, $3.5 million of that goal has been raised. That means as much as $75,000 can be donated this year.

Fisher said there are a number of ways the foundation and the Town of Orangeville can work together.

They can manage any grant programs or scholarships the municipality has, she said. An endowment fund for Orangeville can be established to help with sustainability for municipal grants.

“The things that you guys are doing fills a void that our community never had before,” said Deputy Mayor Todd Taylor.


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