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Community

Quadra Island Foundation makes its first $10,000 investment for the future

The Quadra Island Foundation made its first investment last month, as a foundation for a permanent endowment fund. $10,000 was invested through the Vancouver Foundation.

“That was raised  from individuals within our community. We now have closer to $15,000 and so we’ve kept $5,000 in our bank account and we’ve just initiated the endowment fund. We feel very, very fortunate that we’re in this position and we can speak to people like you and to the community at large and just say, ‘okay, we’ve started the seed money,’” said foundation Chair Michael Mascall.

Screenshot of Michael Mascall taken during our interview

The Vancouver Foundation manages several billion dollars of endowment funds in British Columbia and will not accept investments less than $10,000. 

“It’s got our foot in the door and we would like to say, yes, we’re here,” said Mascall. “The Vancouver Foundation offers two streams of where you can put the money. One is for socially responsible investing, which is where we’ve put our money, and it’s not involved so much in fossil fuels and mining operations and more into market transactions.” 

He added, “Socially responsible investing has actually returned to a higher annual rate of return over the last five years compared to just investing in the full stock market. For us, this is a step forward and we’ve crossed a threshold in establishing the foundation with some sense of permanence for the longterm.”

The Quadra Foundation has raised about $38,000 in the ‘just over a year’ they’ve been in existence. Part of that money was used for set-up costs. These include hiring a lawyer and Sarah James,  a local Quadra  web designer who is building the foundation’s website. 

“it’s our public persona, that’s let people know what our policies are, what our approach is, who the people are and how they can donate. And we’ll take it from there,” said Mascall. 

$10,000 was used for a Quadra ICAN project to put solar panels on the roof of Quadra Island Elementary School. 

Mascall describes the Quadra Island Foundation as a vehicle for the  community to make a donation (bequest, land donation) back to the community.  They do not want to compete with the dozen or so existing charities on Quadra Island and so have not put their name forward on the Tru Value Spirit Points Board.  

He spoke with the Cortes Island Foundation a year ago, when they were working on doing their policies and bylaws, and would like to share more information and knowledge.

“We are not Vancouver island and we’re not the mainland,” said Mascall. “And as a result, we’ve got to be more self-reliant and this [$10,000 investment] is a tool helping us in our self-reliance.”

Board of the Quadra Foundation:

“We have a great team of people that have been doing it for the last year and a half, and we’ve just taken on a sixth person,” said Mascall.

  • Michael Mascall – (Chair) – economist with  a business background, community organizer, director of Coastal Community Credit Union and the Quadra Island Conservancy,
  • Jody Rodgers – (Vice Chair) – retired plastic  surgeon and medical research director, board member of Quadra Singers and Island Voices in the Comox Valley,
  • Mich Hirano –  (Treasurer) – retired land use planning consultant involving extensive work with government and  First Nations,  former School Trustee and Chair of SD 72.
  • Matthew Kelly – (Secretary) – Jungian psychotherapist with background in comparative mythology, art and education. Grassroots planted, involved in natural burial and emergency preparedness.
  • Julie Douglas – (Communications) – former Communications Manager for the City of Campbell River with a background in journalism, who volunteers with other local organizations and has previous board experience with United Way and Canada Trust Friends of the Environment Foundation.
  • Sarah Deagle – (Grants) – Former Assistant Registrar North Island College, former program Director for the Vancouver Foundation, has done a lot of work with First Nations.

Top photo credit: Jar full of coins by Josh Appel on Unsplash

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