A huge donation years in the making will help enrich and even transform lives in Port Moody, says the president of its beneficiary, the Port Moody Foundation.
Robert Simons said the $500,000 gift from the Port Moody Senior Housing Society had its roots when the organization’s representative, Wayne Borthwick, also served on the foundation’s board of directors.
The money is from the society’s recent sale of a seniors housing complex it operated in the city.
Simons said the donation is the single largest the foundation has ever received since it was founded in 1989.
It will be put into an endowment to support work the foundation does in the community through grants it distributes to local organizations and non-profits.
Over the years, funds from the foundation have been used to help the Burrard Inlet Marine Enhancement Society rebuild the Mossom Creek Hatchery following a fire in 2013, supported programs by PoMo Arts, fed families through the food bank and bolstered food security with community gardens, as well as combatting the scourge of the poisoned drug supply through NaloxHome, an initiative that educates young people how to administer Naloxone.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the foundation also helped distribute $380,000 in federal funds to Port Moody organizations supporting local recovery initiatives.
Simons said the unique position of community foundations among the very organizations they try to help make them an ideal conduit to ensure funds go where they’re most needed and will have a significant impact on the community’s well being.
“Community organizations are really close to the community,” Simons said.
“They connect much more directly with the organizations that are doing the work.”
Simons said the gift from the Senior Housing Society means the foundation will be able to continue its efforts to “build a stronger, more vibrant community for all” for years to come.
“It’s a wonderful representation of what community is all about,” he said.
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