Cygnus Fund

The Cygnus Fund supports Long Point Bird Observatory (LPBO), a program of Bird Studies Canada, located in Port Rowan, Ontario.  The purpose of the Fund is to strengthen and perpetuate LPBO’s ornithological research, population monitoring, and training.  Donations are welcome.  For more information, please contact the Hamilton Community Foundation.

Mary L. Cassidy Fund

Mary Lauder Cassidy, the only daughter of Edwin Cassidy, a longtime manager of the Hamilton branch of National Trust, graduated from Trinity College in 1931 with a degree in modern languages. She also studied business and became a secretary to the Dean of Medicine and worked at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She traveled extensively throughout Europe, Great Britain, Japan and the high Arctic, and took a great interest in matters of culture, civic affairs and education.

Her bequests confirmed these interests, whereby she supported scholarships, health and human service organizations and arts groups.

Miss Cassidy became sick with cancer. While in the hospital she developed an interest in the workings of the complicated equipment which surrounded her. Two of her bequests memorialized her late parents; perhaps it was her observation of their aging process that induced her gift to the community foundation “for charitable purposes in connection with aged people”.

Grants have been made from this Fund: to support footcare clinics in homes for the aged and nursing homes; to develop programs protecting older persons from abuse and self-neglect; to start up a stroke survivors’ group; to conduct hearing testing programs; to publish a directory of services for seniors; to investigate the service needs of rural seniors; to support seniors centres and residences, and for several other projects of benefit to the elderly.

J. Nelson Allan Fund

This fund supports services which provide care and assistance to seniors who are mentally and/or physically disabled and those services which help alleviate the stress on the caregiver.

Ralph W. & Evelyn J. Cooper Fund

Ralph and Evelyn Cooper

The fact that Ralph William Cooper received one of the first Cornerstone awards bestowed by the Foundation of Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals speaks volumes about the man. Born into a successful family (his father founded Cooper Construction), he was instilled with a profound sense of duty and pride in his community. His community leadership touched such organizations as the Tiger-Cat Football Club, McMaster University, the United Church, the YMCA and the Hamilton Civic Hospitals. Moreover, these activities were fit into the demanding life of raising three children with his wife Evelyn and helping to run a family business responsible for the construction of dozens of city landmarks – the Hamilton Board of Education building, the Union Gas building, the train station at Hunter and James streets, to name a few. A man of courage and determination, Mr. Cooper dismissed life’s obstacles with the response “These little things are sent to try us” – a philosophy which he drew upon throughout his life.

Evelyn Joanna Cooper was a dedicated volunteer, avid traveler, Georgian Bay enthusiast and devoted wife – these are a few of the memories Bill Cooper has of his mother. Evelyn McArthur was born in 1908 and married Ralph William Cooper in 1932. She shared her husband’s commitment to civic duty and juggled numerous volunteer activities – Big Sisters, Art Gallery, Hamilton Civic Hospitals and YWCA while raising three children. Although a world traveler, her favourite place was a cottage on a small island off Honey Harbour in Georgian Bay. A fitness fanatic before it was a trend, she swam at dawn until age 75, skied and played soccer with her grandchildren. With characteristic strength, she supported her husband of 62 years through a long illness and convalescence.

Ralph and Evelyn Cooper were life-long supporters of the Foundation and took pride in its growth and made many gifts to the Foundation and these gifts will continue to provide support to succeeding generations in our community.

Excerpt from 1995-1996 and 1996-1997 Annual Reports

Youth In Philanthropy Fund

Newcomb

When Kent Newcomb, Hamilton Community Foundation’s former President (also immediate past Chairman of Community Foundations of Canada) presided over a national conference in Calgary, he heard young people from several Michigan foundations share their positive experiences of being involved with community foundations.

Their enthusiasm reinforced an idea that he and his wife Thérèse had been thinking about for some time. “Young people need a voice not only in the issues that face them now, but in the challenges and opportunities they will encounter in the future. They need to develop the attitudes, values and skills that will enable them to contribute effectively to their communities and their country. The best way to learn generosity and to value community service is by direct exposure and involvement.

Thérèse and Kent challenged Hamilton Community Foundation to develop a program that would involve youth and provide leadership opportunities for young people. They endowed $100,000 with the gift of 1,000 shares of McDonald’s Corporation. “We consider this as a millennium gift and a legacy for the future. Hamilton is a very giving community in my experience. Its finest resource is its people,” says Thérèse. “Our gift is our way of recognizing and thanking a great community.” The project is underway and a Youth In Philanthropy Advisory Committee has been formed involving young school leaders who look at the needs of young folk in our community and work to raise the funds to address those needs, stimulate volunteerism and make grants from income of the Youth Fund.

Thérèse and Kent emphasize that this is an open fund in the Hamilton Community Foundation and they hope that it will attract donations from others who are supportive of the Youth in Philanthropy concept. “We see this fund as growing and being directed by young people.”

Excerpt from 1998-1999 Annual Report

Kenneth and Marie Young

Kenneth and Marie Young

Marie and Kenneth Young’s bequest will support youth and Centenary United Church.

Kenneth Young first dropped in to Hamilton Community Foundation with a list of questions about HCF’s accounting methods and investment practices. Only after he was completely satisfied that the Foundation’s policies were solid did he continue discussion about setting up a fund. That careful diligence doesn’t surprise Colin Lazier, Mr. Young’s lawyer and friend of 30 years.

“Ken worked in industrial accounting throughout his career,” he says. “He was by nature a very deliberative person. He would have studied his options thoroughly before choosing the Foundation.”

Mr. Young first learned about HCF when Mrs. Joyce Young made her record-setting gift of $40 million in 2000. People asked him if they were related (they’re not). The news coverage piqued his interest and he researched the Foundation, ultimately leaving a bequest in his will.

Kenneth and his wife Marie moved to Hamilton from the Prairies, where they had both grown up. They met in Regina through speedskating – a sport they shared – and married in 1958. In 1961, Ken was transferred to Hamilton with International Harvester. They moved into a newly-built apartment on the Mountain brow, and never moved again. Ken was still living there independently (paying close attention to his nutrition and carefully reading food labels in his weekly shopping trips) in 2008 when he passed away in his ninety-third year. Marie pre-deceased him in 2002.

Both were very active in Centenary United Church. Marie was a strong supporter of the United Church Women. Ken was a long-serving Clerk of Session, and a trustee and treasurer of Centenary’s bursary program for theological students. He also served on the United Church’s Hamilton-wide council for many years.

Though they had no children of their own, Ken and Marie recognized the important influence of strong parents on their own lives and wanted to help make sure that other children had access to that kind of mentoring. The Kenneth Boothe Young and Marie Catherine Young Fund will support youth-focused grants recommended by the Foundation as well as the activities of Centenary United Church.

“Ken Young was one of the finest people I’ve ever known,” recalls Colin Lazier. “He was always thoughtful and considerate. He was a gentle man who never had a bad word to say about anybody – and he always got things done in his quiet, gracious way.”

Excerpt from 2008-2009 Annual Report

John E. VanDuzer Scholarship Fund

Judge VanDuzer

Judge John E. VanDuzer

Early in his legal career, John VanDuzer was appointed a judge, a bestowing of authority that he accepted humbly and used wisely throughout his 36 years on the bench.

“He was very, very sensitive to the needs of other people,” explains Joan VanDuzer, John’s widow. “He wasn’t caught up in the structure of the system. He always said he was in the service industry, which is quite unusual.”

Together with Judge David Steinberg, John VanDuzer is credited with the creation of Hamilton’s Unified Family Court in 1977, a pilot project that brought together in one courthouse all cases involving marriage breakdown, child custody and access, domestic violence and youthful offenders. The model has since been adopted throughout Canada.

John was a strong advocate of mediation and alternative dispute resolution and believed it was better for families to work out their problems without resorting to a trial. A true collaborator, he was inspired by the interdisciplinary knowledge and perspective of groups such as the US-based Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, of which he became the first Canadian president.

“He had a lovely sense of humour and could always take the edge off any battle,” Joan says. “It’s easy to follow the letter of the law and forget the human quality, but I think sometimes he tried to figure out how to make the law fit the person instead of the other way around.”

In 1992 John was 65 and became “supernumerary,” which meant a reduced work load. At a gala retirement dinner, it was announced that a fund was established in his name at Hamilton Community Foundation to support students in family law.

When John knew the end was near, during his illness in the fall of 2005, it was an obvious choice for him to ask Joan that ‘in memoriam’ donations be made to the John E. VanDuzer Fund at HCF. “In the cards and notes I received after John’s passing, many people commented on his huge respect for other people,” Joan says. “He was considered a gentleman in the fullest sense of the word. We hope with this fund we can further John’s interest in mediation and family law.”

Excerpt from 2005-2006 Annual Report

Edith H. Turner Foundation Fund

In October 1997, following several years of succession planning, the Board of Directors of the Edith H. Turner Foundation transferred its assets of $8.8 million into the Hamilton Community Foundation, thus joining the Foundation as a component fund and ensuring perpetuity and purpose of the funds.

The Foundation had been formed in the mid 1970s when Edith Turner, in discussing her estate plans with her lawyer, J. Benjamin Simpson, Q.C. seized upon his suggestion of a foundation to support local charitable causes and provided him with $500,000 to create this Fund. While there were no strings attached to the use of the money, she told him she would be watching. Another $4.8 million was directed into the Foundation after Miss Turner’s death. In the subsequent years after her death, the Fund has substantially grown through astute investment management.

Edith Turner had been a lifelong Hamilton resident, the only child of Sarah Jane and George A. Turner, a developer in the northeast end of the city. She herself was an astute investor, and avid golfer, a private and unassuming person who was known for her quiet kindness and generosity. Her decision to leave her fortune for the benefit of others was consistent with her interest in her community and her support of charitable causes over the years. Mr. Simpson recruited a board of volunteer directors to assist him in managing the Foundation, most of whom have served throughout its entire history.

The Foundation’s interests include health care, education, the arts, social services, seniors, children and the environment. Under the terms of the transfer agreement, the Turner Foundation board will continue to serve as the advisory committee, reviewing applications and selecting grant recipients. As before, the fund will provide mainly large grants in all sectors of the community for special projects, equipment and capital expenditures.

The joining of the Edith H. Turner Foundation with the Hamilton Community Foundation is more than a financial merger capitalizing on economies of scale. It is a coming together of two institutions with a common purpose – building the capacity of the community, making it stronger and more resilient, investing in people, projects and ideas with potential for positive impact on the lives of all citizens. Mr. Simpson speaks positively about his working experiences with the Hamilton Community Foundation and states, “My co-directors and I feel very good about this merger. Now we can focus on continuing the grantmaking work we’ve been doing in the community for all these years.”

Excerpt from 1997-1998 Annual Report

Tran Family Fund

Tran

In his quiet, gentle way, Ninh Tran is crystal clear about the impact he wants to have with his philanthropy.

“I grew up learning the value of every dollar,” says the 35 year-old Dr. Tran, who emigrated from Vietnam to Canada at the age of two. “My parents put everything they had into my education and my chances here. They saved and saved, for me. I understand the value of that support. I’d like to give the same chance to other young people who are willing to work hard to improve their life prospects.”

Since high school, Ninh has thought a lot about how he could have an impact in the world. He considered politics but settled on medicine, earning his MD from Queen’s University and completing his residency in family medicine and public health here at McMaster. He is currently Associate Medical Officer of Health for the City of Hamilton.

Dr. Tran started the Tran Family Fund at Hamilton Community Foundation in 2011. It will support programs that help youth reach their full potential.

“You don’t have to be a millionaire to begin making a difference,” he says. “I’ve started small. I will get experience and learn as I go along. I hope others will contribute and help build the fund up over time.” He already has ideas about using social media to promote awareness of philanthropic opportunities and the impact of giving.

“Creating a fund meets two different needs,” Ninh says thoughtfully. “It fulfills the need to give back, and it allows you to build your legacy. Both aspects are powerful.”

Donations are welcome.  To give online click here or for more information, please contact the Hamilton Community Foundation.

Excerpt from 2011-2012 Annual Report

Swire Family Fund

Swire

The 53-year-old Dundas residents relish their active, semi-retired life that emphasizes fitness and a deep appreciation of the natural beauty and recreation opportunities around them in their hometown.

So they’ve decided to give back in a way that will ensure others can enjoy the outdoors as they do.

Their inspiration, oddly enough, is Colonel Sanders.

Upon completing university, Glen Swire joined his family’s business, a chain of Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises. For the next three decades he owned and operated outlets in the Hamilton area before selling the businesses in 2002.

By that time, he’d had plenty of good corporate citizens as role models – the first of whom was his father who contributed to a variety of charities during his business life.

A white-suited genteel southerner whose name is synonymous with Kentucky Fried Chicken was another important influence.

Colonel Sanders structured the Canadian arm of his restaurant empire as a charity, so that profits were redistributed to Canadian outlets with the proviso that franchisees would use them to support local community causes.

“ He literally gave away millions of dollars through his lifetime,” says Glen. “I consider Colonel Sanders a mentor in philanthropy.”

The Swires wanted to give their energy and dollars to enhancing crucial community green spaces. As regular users of the Dundas Valley Conservation area, they recognize how outdoor recreation has increased their quality of life. So they set up the Swire Family Fund with the Hamilton Community Foundation. Right now, Glen and Debra are the fund’s main advisors but eventually their children – Paul, 30, and Julie, 28 – will become more involved, as will their grandchildren.

“ We looked into setting up our own family foundation, but decided that HCF could administer it for us with less cost and more professionally than we could do it ourselves,” says Glen, who feels that everyone should give a percentage of their income to charity.

When they look around their Dundas community at the wealth of hiking and skiing trails that have enhanced their lives, they are doubly committed to spreading that enjoyment.

Excerpt from 2003-2004 Annual Report