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Thinking about Philanthropy

February 10, 2022

Jonas Salk, the developer of the polio vaccine, famously said, “The most important question we must ask ourselves, is “Are we being good ancestors?” Considering that he chose not to patent or profit from the vaccine so that it could be globally distributed, he could fairly answer, “yes”.
How about us?

The Campbell River Community Foundation is dedicated to the goal of helping people help others. We do that by creating an endowment from donors large and small, the interest from which funds grants which are used to further the well-being of Campbell River citizens, now and in the future. We like to think of this as being partners in philanthropy.

At its root, philanthropy is derived from “philos” – love, and “anthropos” – human, and it includes gifts far beyond money. You can see this kind of philanthropy every day in Campbell River. Take a weekend walk in the Snowden Forest and see bike club members building and maintaining trails that others, unknown to them and perhaps yet unborn, will ride. Consider the volunteers with the Greenways Land Trust who work to protect the legacy we have inherited and to ensure that it will endure for generations to come.

Look as well at the coaches and youth leaders, the members of service clubs, the volunteers at the Hama? Elas Community Kitchen, the neighbour who picks up garbage from the roadside.

Anyone who plants a tree. Each of these fellow citizens has to some degree given of themselves – their, time, their talent, their resources – to others, now and in the future.

Since 1990, the Campbell River Community Foundation has been supporting non-profit organizations that are working for the betterment of our community. You can find a complete list of the grants we have awarded on our website (www.crfoundation.ca). You will also find here how you can donate to us.

Some of us are in a position to leave a financial legacy to a cause or organization that they support. They should do so. Each of us though, can grow a legacy by considering the impact of our actions – how we shop, how we treat our environment, how we relate to those around us, how we spend our time, how we vote – on the distant future and the strangers that will live there.

We invite you to think of philanthropy as giving, not just in the present but also to the future, so that we can be both good neighbours and good ancestors. Please consider how you might make a contribution to this goal, or contact us at info@crfoundation.ca.

Your descendants are waiting for you.

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