Editor:
Re: The Sunshine Coast Community Foundation and their full-page ad of Sept 9.
In regards to Gordon D. Walker’s letter to the Coast Reporter (“Help the homeless,” Sept. 16), we want to make a few clarifications. The full-page ad in the newspaper is our Annual Report, providing an update to the community on the Foundation’s achievements over the past year.
The Foundation raises money by working with individuals and organizations that donate funds to set up charitable endowment funds. Our contractual agreement with donors is that the principal amount donated is never touched. Donations are preserved in perpetuity so that their gift will keep on giving. Each year, interest from the endowments is donated to local charities.
The Foundation currently manages 48 endowment funds, totalling over $3.5 million. Our role is to administer these endowments, to grow the principal, and to direct the interest from these funds to local charities each year. In 2015, the Foundation donated over $143,000 to community organizations, including the Sunshine Coast Cold Weather Shelter.
Shelley McDade,
Chair, Sunshine Coast Community Foundation
