supporting southwestern alberta forever
$25 Million in Permanent Funds
2015 Grants Total $723,127
A
from Humble
beginnings,
a lasting legacy
Sustainable
Support for
Charities
$5.4 Million
The person who brought people
together to start what is now the
Community Foundation of Lethbridge and
Southwestern Alberta was Louis Sherman
Turcotte, a local lawyer and judge who
had a vision for what the Foundation
could be, and who motivated others to
share that vision.
“Turcotte was known to have worked
diligently behind the scenes to get
community buy-in and founding funds
for the organization,” said George
Hall, the current
Executive Director
of the Community
Foundation of
Lethbridge and
Southwestern
Alberta. “As well, he
was instrumental
in creating the
original Lethbridge
B
Foundation
Act, which was
proclaimed in the
Alberta Legislature
on April 18, 1966.
He later bequested
more than
$500,000 to the
Foundation after
his passing in 1983,
C
which served to
significantly increase its granting ability.”
Hall said that Turcotte’s gift would be
the first of three transformational gifts to
the Community Foundation over the past
50 years. “The second gift, announced in
2005, was from the estate of James Earl
Rinehart. He left the bulk of his $6 million
estate to the Foundation, again to the
Community Priorities Fund. Because of
their foresight, our Foundation boasts a
very high proportion of funds available on
an unrestricted basis to support the needs
of communities.”
6
Community
Priorities
Fund
Focus on
Issues
$12.7 Million
$5.5 Million
Managed Funds
$1.4 Million
Community Priorities Fund
Support for Charities
$487,345 in grants were distributed to 63
community organizations in 2015.
Donors designated $104,107 to support specific
charities throughout our region in 2015.
Focus on Issues
Managed Funds
Donors have established funds that focus on
a variety of issues. $131,675 in grants were
dispersed in 2015.
The most recent transformational gift,
announced in December 2014, came as a
$4.4 million bequest from the estate of the
late William (Bill) Long, a Pincher Creekarea rancher who wanted to improve and
sustain rural communities in southwestern
Alberta, now and into the future.
“We have found that a significant
number of our donors who have an
interest in helping the community through
Careful stewardship of $1.4 million in
managed funds on behalf of five specific
charities.
a legacy gift to the Foundation do so
to ensure that the challenges they may
have faced can be lessened for others in
some way,” Hall said. “They are confident
in leaving the decision making to the
Foundation’s Board of Directors, who have
our donors’ wishes in mind at all times
when choosing organizations to support.”
A
The founding members of what would become the Community Foundation of
Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta, at their inaugural meeting in August, 1964. Back
row, left to right: Lethbridge Mayor Frank Sherring; Ralph C. Tennant; Charles J. F.
Beny; William Fairbairn; Sven Ericksen; Reed Ellison. Seated, front, left to right: James K.
Ringland; Violet Broder; Ralph A. Thrall, Sr.; Louis Sherman Turcotte.
B
Louis Sherman Turcotte
C
James Earl Rinehart