60 New Visitors!

A huge thank you to everyone who shared our 'Welcome Newcomers' post with their friends and family!  We had an extra 60 people swing by and say hello last week....Well - no one actually left a comment, but our stats tell us that we had quite a few new visitors.

From Canada, the US and as far as Malaysia, Germany and Sweden - thank you for stopping by to visit our families blog.

We didn't take in any additional donations just yet (through CanadaHelps) but with Christmas right around the corner, I have faith that we will blast through our $10,000 just in time to set a new goal for 2013.

~With Love,
Jessie

Welcome Newcomers!

If you have just recently stumbled upon our family's blog, welcome!

There is nothing like the Christmas season to have giving on the mind. It’s a time of year when there are so many people in need, and we receive so many asks for support.

Two years ago, my family came together to create a donor advised family fund to direct our philanthropic interests. Held within the Golden & District Community Foundation (GDCF), all donations to the Principal of the fund are in trust. The Foundation has support from the Columbia Valley Credit Union for above market interest rates – and it is the interest that is granted to programs within the community that need support.

We have found that by donating this way, the money keeps working – and works collectively – to bring more and more funding to our community.

After we established our fund within the GDCF, we set a goal of raising $10,000 (the minimum before the interest earned can be used for grant giving).  As we are on the precipice of reaching that goal, we find that it is now time to set a new goal, so that our fund continues to grow each year and we can continue to support our community now – and in the future.

If you are in Canada, and want to find out if there is a Community Foundation in your town, you can check out this website: http://www.cfc-fcc.ca.

If you are interested in supporting my family’s fund through the GDCF, please click the donate now button on the right hand side of this page, and be sure to choose the Crandlemire-Keenleyside Family Legacy Fund from the drop down list.

Please feel free to comment, share and read some of our stories.  We would love to hear from you.

~ thank you, and best wishes this holiday season

99.32% - So Close!

It's not hard to tell that Evelyn Keenleyside really beleives in and supports the work of the foundation as she recently donated $500 to our fund.

Other Christmas and Birthday donations are starting to trickle in as well, so we are now 99.32% towards our first goal of $10,000.

We only need $67.58 - will you make that donation?

You can donate in two different ways - either online through Canada Helps, or you can drop a cheque or cash off with Nola at the BC Liquor Store and she will make the deposit for you.

Don't forget - you can donate now - or for any occasion.

Ask and We Shall Receive

I heard back from mom today...and guess what?!

Our family fund is at 93.32% of our first goal of $10,000.  We only need another $667.58 to reach the mark.  Wow.

I'm literally speechless.

...
..
.

Alright, not literally - because..well, come on.  I'm never actually speechless.

I'm literally impressed.

Yes, impressed!  We have stuck on this path together, as a family and I am once again reminded of just how fantastic we are.

Thanks Grandma..Grandpa...you really knew what you were doing with this bunch.
 

An Update on the Family Fund

I've asked mom to check with the foundation for an update on the Family Fund.  I think it would be a really great year to push past the $10,000 mark.

As we work to reach our goal I would like to reach out to the rest of the family to see if anyone is interested in writing a post or two.

It would be wonderful to read your thoughts on community involvement/community giving or maybe why you believe in/support our family fund.  It really could be anything at all.

If you'd like to share - please just email me at milumj@gmail.com or send me a note on Facebook.

Jessie

Bringing Chemo to our Community

As most of you know, one of my mom's hopes for The Crandlemire-Keenleyside Family Legacy Fund is that we would be able to support bringing cancer-related treatment support to Golden.  While our fund is not yet ready to do that, there is a group trying to move this initiative forward now.  Please read on if you're interested in supporting this initiative.

Through the AVIVA Community Fund, my little hometown, Golden BC, is trying to win a competition that would bring funding for trained medical staff to visit our community twice per month to enable them to provide cancer related treatment/services.

Golden is currently in the first qualifying round, where people can register and vote every day until October 15th.

This initiative is very close to my heart as my father has recently passed away from cancer. He suffered from a heart attack after battling lung cancer for a mere six months. During that time my family had to drive three hours (approximately) to the nearest cancer treatment center; often staying overnight at hotels or having to turn around and drive another three hours back home after the treatment. Bringing training to our local hospital so that our nurses and doctors could provide this support/service to residents would impact the lives of so many people in this rural community.

To vote, you have to register (and I apologize for that, I assume it’s to avoid spam voting). You can register with an email address or with your Facebook account which is quick and easy.

Please consider taking a few minutes out of your day to explore this competition and vote to bring Chemo to our Community.

AVIVA voting page:http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf14530?

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Facebook support page: http://www.facebook.com/ChemoInOurCommunity?fref=ts

Thank you,

Unexpected

Today I was reminded that good hearts are often found in the most unexpected places.  A colleague of mine and I were chatting about her upcoming participation in the relay for life - it came up that they were very close to their goal but that she wasn't very comfortable asking people for donations.  We chatted a bit more and I shared with her our Family Fund and website - laughing - I told her that I had no problem asking for donations.

It was then that she told me that she'd like to make a donation to our fund.  Just like that.

A shared belief in giving and a conversation on philanthropy and before you know it - we donated to each other's projects.

I wanted to share this story with you because I think, unless it's Christmas, it's easy to forget about our Family Fund, it's easy to lose our focus.

I matched my colleagues donation today - and I urge you to keep talking about our Fund - let's continue to grow not only it, but ourselves.

Interest

I was chatting with mom and Jordan this lovely Easter Weekend about the fund and through that we sorted out that our fund has already earned $80.39!  Whoohoo!  Okay, Okay - I know it is not very much.  But still.

We now just need $1,175 to reach our first goal of $10,000!

There are a lot of birthdays coming up this summer...just sayin...

The Foundation

The last time I was in Golden, I had the pleasure of attending a Foundation meeting as a guest.  Meeting in one of the member's homes, the agenda included a variety of topics including the 2012 administration budget and new donor prospects to name just two.

I learned that it is not just mom who is a passionate board member.  The entire group is committed to making our community great - and while they don't all have family funds, they all do their part to raise the profile of the foundation, work for donations and bring back that support into the community.

I walked away from that meeting feeling energized and more committed then ever to our Legacy Fund in Golden.  It also got me thinking, that there may be some of you who want to help with our Fund or the Foundation in a broader sense, but are financially unable to do so.  It seemed to me that the group is looking for two new board members and always need volunteers spreading the word.

So, if you want to help in other ways, I would encourage you to get in touch with the foundation, volunteer, write a blog post, add our blog link to your Facebook profile, or find a way to encourage others to donate  to our fund.

We are now just $1,256 dollars away from reaching our first goal - $10,000!  That's just 50 donations of $25! Do you think we can do it?  I know we can.

Thank You

A few more donations have come in this week from family and friends in Dad's name - we thank you for your love and support.

Corporate Donation

A huge thank you goes out to Golder Associates Ltd. for a donation in the amount of $1,500 to our Family Fund.  Jessie applied through her work's Community Involvement and Support Program and was notified of the decision this morning.

This donation brings us up to a total of $8,304.54.  We are now just shy of $1,700 before we meet our first goal of $10,000.

Thank You

There have been a few recent donations made in Patrick Neil Milum's name, and we thank you for thinking of him and us during this time.  While my dad is not named in our family fund, he was so very proud of how involved mom and become with the foundation and what our family was trying to accomplish with it the legacy fund.