Anyone attending the 40th anniversary celebration of the Salt Spring Island Foundation (SSIF) on Saturday would have left with a full tummy and warm heart.
Titled 40 Years of Giving, the celebration saw the ArtSpring gallery spaces literally overflowing with guests at one point as they enjoyed delicious food and beverages, socializing with fellow islanders and hearing about the incredible story of the foundation and its positive impact on the community.
Salt Spring Island’s Briony Penn, the executor of Nancy Braithwaite’s estate, gave a charming talk about the humble woman she said “felt that everything, even philanthropy, is about community” and whose bequest to SSIF is expected to reach the $6- million mark.
Instrumental people such as the late founder John Lees was acknowledged, as were longtime board members and chairs Bob Rush and Carol Biely, with the latter also speaking at the event. Representatives from a dozen of the many charities supported by the foundation gave three-minute talks about what was achieved due to SSIF grants, bringing the impact of those funds alive.
SSIF chair Walter Stewart said that when he joined the foundation board in 2021 the endowment was at about $7 million. He told Saturday’s crowd — to wild applause — that by the end of 2025 the foundation expects that figure to reach $21 million.
As SSIF executive director Shannon Cowan explained in a Nov. 6 Driftwood article, with such a healthy endowment fund, the group can consider ways to have even more impact. Stewart reiterated that message on Saturday, noting, “It gives us an opportunity to go several steps further, sustaining what we do, and being able to go a whole lot further.”
As evidenced by donations and the rising number of bequests, people clearly see the foundation as a responsible agency that does much good for the community. They feel confident in donating to the organization and connecting their legacy to it through estate bequests.
The SSIF event showed that Salt Spring Island is a much richer, healthier and cohesive community because of the foundation. Contributing to it is a surefire way to ensure we can continue to nurture the best things about our island home.