Whenever the call goes out to assist people who have suffered a major crisis like a fire or flood, Bowen Island never fails to show itself to be a truly caring community by giving money and other needed help.
But how do we reach out to members of our community who may be facing less visible emergencies, perhaps disconnected from social support systems or too shy or proud to reach out to those supports? In recent months, the Bowen Island Community Foundation has been pondering this very question.
In June, our board of directors convened a meeting with many of the front line charitable organizations on the island with a caring mandate. It was agreed that setting up an ongoing emergency fund in the form of a "community chest" was an idea worth pursuing. In October, the Foundation confirmed its intent to create a Community Chest Fund.
How would a community chest work? The funds in the community chest will be administered by a Community Chest Fund Committee. Established and led by the Foundation, its members will be drawn from people known to be "the eyes and ears" of our community. It will be accountable for making objective decisions and maintaining confidentiality.
Over the next few months, we will be meeting with these organizations to develop funding criteria with the objective that the funds will flow directly from donors to the charitable groups.
Once up and running, we hope that the Community Chest Committee's work will also help to shine a light on the community support available, and make it easier for charitable groups to share information and coordinate efforts.
The Foundation will seed the Community Chest Fund with a grant of $5000 with the goal of raising an additional $15,000 by launch time in 2013.
Bowen Island residents are invited to help. They should have received our Christmas letter in the postbox last week.
It details the range of funds covering many aspects of community life, invites them to donate and pick the mix of where the dollars will go.
The letter is also available on the Foundation's homepage at www.bowenfoundation.com with the options to print a donation form and mail it in with a cheque, or donate directly online.
If you are interested in learning more about the Foundation, or would like to volunteer, please contact Joyce Ganong at [email protected] or at 947 2802.
JOYCE GANONG
B. I. Community Foundation
