Last Tuesday (March 18), the Cochrane Foundation board gathered to present cheques to numerous organizations within the Cochrane area.

The Ramada Cochrane Foundation Awards Night was held at Seniors on the Bow where representatives of the organizations could give a brief update on what they are all about, upcoming projects, and how the received funds will support their initiatives.

Tim Harvie, Board Chair, says it can be a difficult decision when ultimately deciding which organizations will benefit as a grant recipient. "It is always a tough decision because we are oversubscribed by three times of what we have to give away. Some don't end up meeting our criteria and some we only partially fund, but we do the best we can to distribute the funds we have. 

There is certainly no shortage of worthy applicants, says Harvie, which speaks to our community. "There are so many good groups in Cochrane like the Activettes and the Boys and Girls Club that are just providing a better lifestyle and better quality of life in Cochrane, and they all need resources to do that."

Harvie has been a member of the Cochrane Foundation board for the past 12 years and says while needs are growing he finds the requests are fairly consistent year to year. While there are groups that apply for funding support annually, Harvie shares there are always new applications to consider. "Every year is fairly consistent because there is always a need. Largely the same groups apply, but there are always new groups. This year we saw the organization Helping Families Handle Cancer, so they are always new projects that come along."

While traditionally the Cochrane Foundation has only supported capital projects through its traditional Community Capital Grant stream, this year thanks to an idea from the Calgary Foundation in which they are partnered, the board was also able to grant over $20,000 under 'Neighbourhood Grants'. This new additional stream allowed the board to help support events, groups and projects up to 5000 dollars that normally wouldn't have met criteria. "Our regular grant stream is more for bricks and mortar capital campaigns, but we have always had requests for events and those types of things. When the funds became available it only seemed natural to add that to what we are doing. I think it is really good because the six groups that we're funding this year are all worthy projects, and they are all helping to build community."

Members of the Cochrane Foundation board.

Tipping his hat to Neil Harvie, Ray Zell and Bob Aylesworth for having the vision to create a permanent endowment fund, Harvie says he is proud to live in a community where we are able to support community ideals related to arts and culture, environment, youth, education, health, recreation and more. "It took a huge amount of foresight from those three gentlemen back in '93 to notice there was a need for this in Cochrane. With having a fairly good standard of living and having the resources to contribute to the community, they saw the need and founded a foundation. While it took five or so years to get it up and running, once some funds were available they were able to start distributing the income and it has only grown from there."

Hoping to continue to grow the fund, Harvie says if you have the resources and the desire to support local organziations, please think of the Cochrane Foundation. "It is a percentage of the fund that gets returned to the community each year. If the fund was twice as big, we would have twice as much money to give away to help groups. Hopefully, people will consider the Cochrane Foundation in their philanthropy, estates, and giving because it is a great way to give back to the community and it has real potential in helping us grow."

If you would like to contribute monetarily to the Cochrane Foundation you can do so by going HERE.

Below is a list of those organizations, groups and individuals that received support in 2019 from the Cochrane Foundation. 

Community Capital Grant Recipients (Total $57,791)

  • Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation (AIWC)
  • Bike Cochrane Society
  • Bow Valley Habitat Development
  • Boys and Girls Club of Cochrane and Area
  • Cochrane Activettes Food Bank
  • Cochrane and Area Humane Society
  • Cochrane and District Agricultural Society
  • Lions Club of Cochrane
  • Cochrane Piranhas Summer Swim Club
  • Cochrane Pregnancy Care Centre
  • Helping Families Handle Cancer
  • Friends of Spirit Winds Ranch Society
  • Frank Wills Memorial Society
  • Stockmen's Memorial Foundation

Cochrane Foundation Dr George McQuitty Memorial Fund Recipients (Total $4,237)

  • Karyssa Brown, MD student
  • Jeff Lees, DVM student
  • Cochrane Search and Rescue Association
  • Cochrane Urgent Care Physician Group
  • Cochrane Hospice Society

Neighbourhood Grants Recipients (Total $20,350)

  • Boys and Girls Club of Cochrane and Area
  • Cochrane Immigrant Services Committee
  • Cochrane Historical Archival Preservation Society (CHAPS)
  • Heritage Hills Community Association 
  • Glenbow Ranch Park Foundation (GRPF)
  • Heartland Community Association

READ MORE:

Cochrane Foundation Will Gift More Dollars and Provide More Opportunities