“Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice.”
Nelson Mandela
I apologize for being about a month late in sending you this President’s Report but, as they say, life happens. We finally were able to hold our 2020-21 Annual General Meeting in January and we are now in that middle period where we are trying to tie up loose ends from this school year and starting to prepare for the next one.
The Board of Directors will meet in May (in person I hope) to decide on the number of awards for the 2022-23 school year and also to decide on the amount of the award. This year, we increased the monthly award from $100 to $110 and I am hoping that we can continue to increase the award each year. In the Vision Statement recently released (available on the web site by clicking here), we stated our intention the increase the monthly award to $250 over five years.
As I read the recipients’ letters, it struck me how much of an impact we are having on their lives. If we are able to eventually reach $250 per month, I think that the Program will make a much more significant difference in their lives.
We are currently supporting 204 students. That number includes 7 students in the Upper Canada area (Glengarry, Hawkesbury, Avonmore and Vankleek Hill) that were funded by MacEwen Petroleum (5 students) and another donor (2 students).
By the end of this fiscal year (June 30), we will have given out $780,000 to hard-working students in need and we will pass the $1 million-dollar mark during the next year.
I am happy to report that we now have bursaries endowed by Board members available at uOttawa (created by David Hill and his family), Carleton University (endowed by Susan Prior and her family) and Algonquin College (endowed by Carman and Gail Joynt). These bursaries will allow our graduating recipients a further opportunity to continue their education.
Needless to say, all of this success is due to the generous support from all across the Ottawa community. Even in difficult pandemic times, we may surpass the previous year’s donations.
Our donor renewal rate is over 75%. It shows us that our donors like what we do and how we do it, especially with the 0% administration promise we’ve kept since the beginning. While we may eventually need to expand to support the growing administrative work that is required to keep the program going, we are still hoping that we will be able to achieve our goals while only taking a very modest amount from your donations. Hopefully, that’s a few years down the road.
If you are a regular contributor, I urge you to sign up for a monthly donation through CanadaHelps (link). Giving us what you can afford each month gives us more financial stability and a modest increase over a one-time donation.
If you haven’t yet donated, visit our web site (link) and please consider making a monthly or one-time donation.
I wish you a happy and healthy 2022.
Richard Lussier
President