News

Thank you all for helping the Chinook Lesbian and Gay Fund to grow. We are thrilled to announce that we exceeded our fundraising goals in 2013 by raising about $42,000 from your donations.

For those who attend our 3rd Annual Fundraising Dinner on 17th October 2013 at The Bar C Restaurant, thank you!   The event was a great success in many ways.  Our dinner guests were incredibly generous, with 70 in attendance giving on average about $600 each. Thanks to you, our fund balance is just over $155,000.

Dinner was provided by Courtney Aarbo Barristers and Solicitors and drinks provided by Dr. Martin Harvey and Fernie Getaways. Their support ensured that 100% of your donation was deposited into the Chinook Fund’s Calgary Foundations account.  By now you should have received a charitable receipt for the entire amount of your donation issued by from The Calgary Foundation (should you have any questions about your receipt please contact Kelly Ernst at info@calgarychinookfund.ca).  We also wish to thank Bar C and their staff for their professional, friendly and efficient service.

It was an honour to introduce the first recipient of the Chinook Hero Award.  The award gives thanks and recognition to a member or group in the Alberta LGBT community who has helped improve the LGBT community over a period of years.  The Hero Award is given to no more than one group or person per year and there is no financial award given. The 2013 recipient was Delwin Vriend, who challenged the Alberta Human Rights Act in a Supreme Court case after he was fired for being gay. He won the case and as a result “sexual orientation” was read into the Canadian constitution. He helped change the laws in Canada so that we could all enjoy equal rights, something that is being modeled in many countries worldwide.

In 2013, income from the fund enabled us to issue three grants for the first time, a sign of the growth the fund has been able to make. Grant recipients were Calgary Outlink’s Beyond Borders Program, Fairytales Presentation Society’s Queer Media Program, and Third Street Theatre in association with Alberta Playwright’s Network.  The Beyond Borders Program funding is to support the development of resources to assist LGBT immigrants to Calgary access services. The Queer Media Program is supporting youth to produce visual media that explores concepts of queer identity, facing challenges and overcoming obstacles. Third Street Theatre funding was for the development of 2 play scripts with subject material exploring issues relevant to the LGBT community.

We hope as the fund grows to be able to provide more meaningful amounts to other worthy causes. It is important to stress that the fund’s principle is never touched; grants are made from the income generated by the fund, making this truly a gift that keeps on giving.  We do plan on continuing to keep our donors informed about the Chinook Fund through a periodic news email and by posting information on our website, found at www.calgarychinookfund.ca.  We encourage your further involvement as well as your assistance in informing others about it.

For those of you hearing about the Chinook Fund for the first time, or those inclined to provide ongoing support, we remind you donations can also be made to the Fund either through the Calgary Foundation at: https://pHYPERLINK “https://payment.csfm.com/donations/calgaryfoundation/”aHYPERLINK “https://payment.csfm.com/donations/calgaryfoundation/”yment.csfm.com/donations/calgaryfoundation/ or directed to the Fund through the United Way Annual Campaign (direct your donation  through the Calgary Foundation to the “Chinook Lesbian and Gay Fund”).

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to introduce the Chinook Fund to a growing circle of supporters and donors.

Although most people receiving this newsletter will be aware of our existence and probably attended our October fundraiser, please feel free to forward this notice to friends and loved ones that you think might be interested in learning more about our efforts.

We are pleased to announce the date of our 3^rd Annual fundraising dinner event, this one we anticipate to be our biggest yet.  Please keep the date of October 17^th, 2013 free on your schedule. You will receive your official invitation in the early part of September. Like past years events, our event expenses will be covered by sponsors, meaning that 100% of your donation will go to the Fund. The only obligation for each person attending the event is to make a donation. The fund remains managed by the Calgary Foundation who will issue a charitable receipt in their name for the entire amount.

Due to the generosity of our past donors, we have been able to grow the Fund to over $118,000. Our ultimate goal is to collect much more over time to create meaningful grants to support the GLBT community. It is important to stress that the principle is never touched; the grants come from the income generated by the Fund, making this truly a gift that keeps on giving. Last year grants went to Outlinks, and Camp fYreFly which helped to establish the first GLBT camp for coming out youth. For more information please visit: http://www.fyrefly.ualberta.ca/Calgary/

In other news, we have two new members of the Advisory Committee.  We are very pleased to welcome Pam Krause and Sue Cress, who both bring many attributes to our committee, including their many years of working in the community in leadership roles in the fields of GLBT sexual health education and awareness, anti-homophobia and work with GLBT youth.

We are now seeking grant applications from the community.  Grants are only issued to registered charitable organizations that are concerned with providing any or all of the following services for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered support, education, and resources.  This year we have funds to provide two grants of $2,500, however we are willing to accept an application for $5,000 should an application of outstanding merit be made. Application criteria online at:

http://www.calgarychinookfund.ca/ChinookFundGrantCriteria.pdf

Additional details about us can be viewed at: http://www.calgarychinookfund.ca/ .

 

Thank you all for a very successful 2012 and welcome to 2013. This newsletter is a follow-up from our dinner in the fall regarding our efforts to build Calgary’s “Chinook Lesbian and Gay Fund”.

We held our 2nd Annual Fundraising Dinner on 25th October 2012 at Pulcinella Restaurant in Kensington.  We set ourselves a target of finishing the evening having reached the $100,000 mark in terms of the total fund. We are thrilled to announce that we exceeded our goal by having raised about $42,000.00 from donations by attendees at the dinner, on-line donations from supporters who could not come, and from the committee.  Our dinner guests were incredibly generous, with the 50 in attendance giving about $25,000. Thanks to you, our fund balance is just over $104,000.

On behalf of the steering committee of the Chinook Lesbian and Gay Fund, I want to thank all who attended for their participation in this years fundraising dinner, and also many thanks to those donors who were not able to attend the event.  We are glad to report that the cost of the event was paid from the remaining surplus funds from the North American Outgames held in Calgary a few year ago.  This means 100% of your donation will therefore be deposited into the Calgary Foundations account being invested by them for our Fund.  By now you should have received a charitable receipt for the entire amount of your donation issued by from The Calgary Foundation (note should you have any questions about your receipt please contact Kelly Ernst at kellyernst@telus.net ).  We also wish to thank Pulcinella and their staff for their professional, friendly and efficient service.

This year the income from the Fund enabled us to issue two grants to help young people, after much debating as to who the recipients should be this year. The first grant was to assist the establishment of a “Camp Fyrefly” in Calgary.  This is Canada’s largest, volunteer-based, summer leadership retreat for sexual minority and gender variant (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans- identified, two-spirited, intersexed, queer, questioning) and allied youth http://www.fyrefly.ualberta.ca/index.htm .  The second grant was issued to help pay part of the cost of the “Inside Out” youth peer support group which is run by Outlinks   http://calgaryoutlink.ca/insideout-youth/ .

The amounts we were able to donate were $1500 to each organization, however the additional donations received at this years dinner should allow our Fund’s grants to increase by about 65% next year.  We hope as the Fund grows to be able to provide more meaningful amounts to other worthy causes. It is important to stress that the principle is never touched; the grants come from the income generated by the Fund, making this truly a gift that keeps on giving.  We do plan on continuing to keep our donors informed about the Chinook Fund through a periodic news email and by posting information on our website, found at  http://www.calgarychinookfund.ca/ .  We absolutely encourage your further involvement with the Fund as well as your assistance in informing others about it.

For those of you hearing about the Chinook Fund for the first time, or those inclined to provide ongoing support, we remind you donations can also be made to the Fund either through the Calgary Foundation (https://payment.csfm.com/donations/calgaryfoundation/) or directed to the Fund through the United Way Annual Campaign (direct your donation  through the Calgary Foundation to the “Chinook Lesbian and Gay Fund”).

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to introduce the Chinook Fund to a growing circle of supporters and donors.

Although most people receiving this newsletter will be aware of our existence and probably attended our October fundraiser, please feel free to forward this notice to friends and loved ones that you think might be interested in learning more about our efforts.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Harvey, M.D.Volunteer, Chinook Fund Advisory Committee

Welcome to the second of our newsletters bringing you up to date with developments in our efforts to build the Calgary Lesbian and Gay Chinook Fund.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank Gael McLeod for her many years of hard work and vision associated with the Chinook Fund. Many of you may know Gael from her countless years of community involvement, as well as of course her current position as Councillor representing the constituents of Ward 4. Due to the daunting schedule that the latter involves, she has had to set aside her involvement as a member of the advisory committee.

Over the past few months, one of the issues we have made specific efforts has been to ensure our committee has a balance of participants that reflect the community we wish to represent.  At present we wish to increase female representation on our advisory committee and so are looking for new potential members.  Prior board experience is desirable, but those with other relevant experience or skills are also welcome. If interested, please contact Chris at info@calgarychinookfund.ca.
We are in the process of accepting applications for grants from the 2011-2012 year.  The grant must be made from an organization registered as a Charitable Organization with the Canada Revenue Agency as well as fit the objects of our fund. Our website has more details regarding how to apply, as well as detail regarding funding criteria. Last year we were able to provide funding for the Fairy Tales Presentation Society for their Youth Anti- Homophobia Public Service Announcement contest in partnership with EMMEDIA. A second grant was given to the Calgary Sexual Health Centre for their work providing education to schools regarding sexuality, sexual health and diversity. For more information on how to apply, visit: http://www.calgarychinookfund.ca/ChinookFundGrantCriteria.pdf

As the Chinook Fund continues to grow, so will our ability to provide more funding to such worthy projects from the interest generated by the Fund. This coming year the amount we are able to grant will double due to your generous donations. Even with these grants the total assets of the fund will never be touched and your gift will continue to give for years to come. We are in the process of tying up the final details of this year’s fundraising event, where we will be announcing the names of the successful grant applicants.

Dan MacGregor and Harry Ulmer were our first ambassadors, hosting a dinner, wine tasting and live music event which raised over $1800 for the Chinook Fund. We are inviting people to generously act as Chinook Fund ambassadors, willing to host a private fundraising event in their own home, inviting their friends and introducing them to the Chinook Fund. Should anyone wish to consider also being an ambassador and holding a similar fund raising event for the Fund, then please contact Kelly at kellyernst@telus.net for more information about how to set up an ambassador event.

For those of you hearing about the Chinook Fund for the first time, or those inclined to provide ongoing support, we remind you donations can also be made to the Fund either through the Calgary Foundation (https://payment.csfm.com/donations/calgaryfoundation/) or directed to the Fund through the United Way Annual Campaign (direct your donation to the Calgary Foundation’s Chinook Lesbian and Gay Fund). We are in the process of finalizing details of our next fund raising event at Pulcinella on October 25^th, 2012, with the aim of growing the fund to $100,000. Please save the date and we will keep you informed.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to introduce the Chinook Fund to a growing circle of supporters and donors.

More information is available at: www.calgarychinookfund.ca .

Although most people receiving this newsletter will be aware of our existence and probably attended our October fundraiser, please feel free to forward this notice to friends and loved ones that you think might be interested in learning more about our efforts.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Harvey, M.D.

Volunteer, Chinook Fund Advisory Committee

Welcome to the first of our newsletters bringing you up to date with developments in our efforts to build the Calgary Lesbian and Gay Chinook Fund.

For those of you who were able to attend the fundraiser at Gypsy Wine Bar on October 6, 2011, we again wish to thank you for giving us of your time and also for your generous donations. This successful and engaging event raised approximately $40,000 for the Fund (a generous average donation of approximately $1,000).

We were fortunate to be joined by Chima Nkemdirim, Chief of Staff for the Office of the Mayor and acting Deputy Mayor, Alderman Gael MacLeod, who both spoke to the importance of the Fund and philanthropy in general.

We were also able to announce the recipients of the 2010 – 2011 grants from the endowment fund. The recipients were: the Fairy Tales Presentation Society for their Youth Anti- Homophobia Public Service Announcement contest in partnership with EMMEDIA; and the Calgary Sexual Health Centre for their work providing education to schools regarding sexuality, sexual health and diversity. Total grants given were $1,790.

As the Chinook Fund continues to grow, so will our ability to provide more funding to such worthy projects from the interest generated by the Fund. This coming year the amount we are able to now grant has doubled as a result of your donations. Even with these grants the total assets of the fund will not be touched and your gift will continue to give for years to come.

Dan MacGregor and Harry Ulmer were our first ambassadors, hosting a dinner, wine tasting and live music event which raised over $1800 for the Chinook Fund: many thanks to Dan for his generosity as well as the assembled guests for their donations!

Dan and Harry started a trend and we are also inviting people to generously act as Chinook Fund ambassadors, willing to host a private fundraising event in their own home, inviting their friends and introducing them to the Chinook Fund.We anticipate that this will be the first of many such events and hope that they are all as successful. Should anyone wish to consider also being an ambassador and holding a similar fund raising event for the Fund, then please contact Kelly at kellyernst@telus.net for tips and more information.

 

For those of you hearing about the Chinook Fund for the first time, or those inclined to provide ongoing support, we remind you donations can also be made to the Fund either through the Calgary Foundation or directed to the Fund through the United Way. We are in the process of organizing another fund raising dinner on October 18th, 2012, with the aim of growing the fund to $100,000. Please save the date and we will keep you informed.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to introduce the Chinook Fund to a growing circle of supporters and donors.

More information is available at: www.calgarychinookfund.ca.

Although most people receiving this newsletter will be aware of our existence and probably attended our October fundraiser, please feel free to forward this notice to friends and loved ones that you think might be interested in learning more about our efforts.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Harvey, M.D.

Volunteer, Chinook Fund Advisory Committee