Community is EVERYTHING

COMMUNITY IS NOT ONE THING

COMMUNITY IS

EVERYTHING

You care about this community. We do too.

Being part of a community is so

much more than living in the same area. It is a sense

of shared CONNECTION to people and places—and a It is about acknowledging and challenging for all. It is about developing

feeling of belonging.

inequities to improve the quality of life

resilience together and protecting our precious natural

surroundings. It is about understanding and CELEBRATING OUR DIFFERENCES to give rise to a greater collective strength and well-being, today and for the long term.

Connecting our community to enrich life for all

CONNECT DONORS

GIVE GRANTS

STRENGTHEN COMMUNITY

The Comox Valley Community Foundation

We believe that together we must continue to learn

is a charity, built by generous donors like

about the needs, issues, and opportunities in our

you, that supports our community.

neighbourhoods so that we can build a vibrant, thriving region and make a difference for our future generations.

By connecting caring people with local causes in need, we are able to invest in the people, opportunities, and solutions that make our Valley stronger.

Ranking consistently among Canada’s best places to live and play, the Comox Valley has so much to offer, from spectacular oceanside beaches and snow-topped mountain peaks to vibrant businesses, cultural arts, and heritage charm.

Whether you are a newcomer or a long-time local, the Valley is far more than a lifestyle—it’s home, one that we need to protect and preserve together.

THE STATE OF OUR COMMUNITY We believe knowledge has the power to drive positive community change. As the Comox Valley grows and changes, we are working to engage and connect people across the region not only in understanding these evolving needs, but also in working together to make a difference.

The Valley is experiencing population growth, primarily incoming migration, at a pace well beyond the national average. This has become a vibrant economic driver, attracting wealth and investment to the region. But behind this growth, the statistics have a very different story to tell.

3

www.cvcfoundation.org

0.7%

10,500

citizens are facing poverty and food insecurity [2]

As a community, we are experiencing incredible pressures on many fronts

rental vacancy rate and severe lack of affordable housing [1]

that left unaddressed may become unrecoverable.

We are in a crisis when it comes to housing affordability and rising poverty. We are in a crisis when it relates to addiction and unsheltered

55%

of children in lone parent households live in poverty [3]

4.4mm

annual rise in sea level and more frequent extreme climate events [5]

community members, and we are in a crisis when it relates to climate events, private land development, and protection. And all of these combined are going to dramatically impact quality of life for everyone.

47%

of unnatural deaths resulted from toxic drug poisoning [4]

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? Together, we have the unmatched ability to address these needs. Comox Valley is a passionate, collaborative community with exceptional talent, resources, and expertise. Solutions are ready and swift action starts today—with

your help.

[1] Comox Valley Record. CMHC. https://decafnation.net/2018/11/29/comox-valley-rental-rates-are-severely-unaffordable/ [2] Vital Signs (2018). https://cvcfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/Comox-Valley-Vital-Signs-2018-reduced-4.pdf [3] Vital Signs (2018). https://cvcfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/Comox-Valley-Vital-Signs-2018-reduced-4.pdf [4] BC Coroners Service. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/birth-adoption-death-marriage-and-divorce/deaths/coroners-service/statistical/illicit-drug.pdf [5] United Nations Climate Change (2021). https://unfccc.int/news/state-of-climate-in-2021-extreme-events-and-major-impacts www.cvcfoundation.org

4

Help us grow to meet the challenge

They feed families in need, clean our streams, provide cultural

Your gifts through the Community Foundation are

activities, make recreation inclusive, educate our growing

what create funding grants that support our local

population, bridge healthcare gaps, and so much more. Together,

nonprofit community. These organizations provide essential services across our region that make the Comox Valley a better place to live every day.

COMOX VALLEY

When you give, your support stays local. 100% of grant funding directly supports programs, services, and projects from Oyster River to Bowser.

5

190+ CHARITIES AND NONPROFITS HELP OUR COMMUNITY

www.cvcfoundation.org

they are the backbone of our community and are leading the way toward a more equitable Comox Valley where everyone can thrive.

•

52 are faith-based organizations

•

26 support arts, culture, and heritage

•

12 address needs of children, women, and families

•

16 support education and enrichment

•

29 focus on environment, nature, and climate

•

21 address health and well-being

•

9 address food, housing, and support

•

8 support recreation and inclusion

All of them support multiple areas of need and diverse populations throughout our region.

THE NEED IS URGENT Food insecurity, homelessness, and demand for social service support have never been higher.

And yet, our vital nonprofit organizations addressing these issues locally continue to report funding instability. The risk of losing programs that serve our most vulnerable citizens, families, and children—here in the Comox Valley, is real.

“A Comox Valley

YOU CAN HELP At the Foundation, our ability to help bridge this financial

without a strong charitable sector is one that will be very different from the one we know today. When equity,

gap relies on the generosity of individuals, families, and

sustainability, and inclusion are lost,

businesses who can give. Critical programs including those

the health of our community suffers.

for seniors, families in need, individuals who are unsheltered,

My hope is that every individual and business

children with diverse abilities, the environment, and others are

who are able will act now using their voice

already among the unsupported. We are seeing both the need

or their financial means.”

and urgency compounding daily with pandemic impacts and inflationary concerns.

Christine Helpard President, Comox Valley Community Foundation

www.cvcfoundation.org

6

We’re ready Working together with dedicated community members like you, and strong, local nonprofits, we are able to guide gifts in a strategic way to bridge gaps, reduce inequities, and connect resources to help solve our region’s most pressing challenges. With an overarching view of the community as a whole, we are well-positioned to convene resources and invest in the people, ideas, and leadership initiatives that will strengthen our community.

OUR PLAN Together, we are embarking on an essential campaign to raise $5 million in the next five years to grow the Community Fund and fuel the change our community needs to recover and remain a strong, safe, and healthy place that will sustain generations.

This goal has the capacity to increase grant funding to $1 million annually, elevating all areas of need, preparing reserves for disaster relief and climate resilience, stewarding sustainable growth, and strengthening recovery for our nonprofits and the vital services they provide for all.

7

www.cvcfoundation.org

Will you join us?

Help grow Comox Valley’s own permanent savings account Think of the Foundation as our community’s own savings account. When you make a gift through us, we pool it with other gifts and invest it to amplify everyone’s impact. The earnings from this investment (called an endowment) become grants that the community can spend every single year, forever.

Today, our $16-million[1] endowment fund is one of the Comox Valley’s greatest assets and a key driver for community change. The more we invest together, the greater benefit to all, today and for the long term.

Together, we have the unmatched ability to address this need We have been helping caring people, just like you, give back to the community in meaningful ways for more than 25 years. This means we also know a lot about our community and the best ways to help. We are both a charity and a non-government funder of strong local charities with proven success.

By partnering with us, you get the benefit of an experienced and trusted partner, committed to getting the most out of what you give.

100% of grants give immediate help in the Comox Valley All Community Foundation grants are distributed each year to support and enrich the Comox Valley, from Oyster River to Bowser, activating essential programs and services that would otherwise not be available. We support a community-based approach and accountability measures to distribute funding and maximize impact. By engaging all sectors and causes in our region, we are uniquely positioned to identify opportunities and support emerging needs.

[1] Value as of the time of publishing www.cvcfoundation.org

8

If community matters to you RAPID RELIEF AND SUSTAINABILITY

FOOD, HOUSING, AND SUPPORT

BUILD flexible resources

IMPROVE access to basic needs,

that RESPOND to crisis and natural

ACCELERATE solutions for food

disasters, SAFEGUARD critical

systems, poverty, housing affordability,

programs and services during

and homelessness, GIVE HELP

economic uncertainty.

to those who are struggling now.

CHILDREN, WOMEN, AND FAMILIES

HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

GIVE children and youth their

PROMOTE healthy lifestyles,

best start in life, NURTURE

CHAMPION access to therapy

and PROTECT women at risk,

and innovations, REDUCE

and EMPOWER families.

isolation for seniors and the vulnerable.

Current and past grant recipients have included: 4R’s Educational Society, Beaufort Association, Canadian Council for the Blind – Comox Valley Chapter, Comox Valley Community Arts Council, Comox Bay Care Society (Care-a-Van), Comox Valley Child Development Association, Comox Valley Children’s Day Care Society, Comox Valley Coalition to End Homelessness, Comox Valley Early Years Collaborative, Comox Valley Family Services Association, Comox Valley Food Bank Society, Comox Valley Head Injury Society, Comox Valley Healthcare Foundation, Comox Valley Pregnancy Care Centre, Comox Valley Project Watershed Society, Comox Valley Recovery Centre Society, Comox Valley Senior Support Society, Comox Valley Special Olympics, Comox Valley Therapeutic Riding Society, Comox Valley Transition Society, Courtenay and District Historical Society, Courtenay Recreation Children’s Programs, Cumberland and District Historical Society, Cumberland Community Forest Society, Cumberland Community Schools Society, Cumberland Lake Wilderness Society, 9

www.cvcfoundation.org

Follow your passion, elevate a cause, or support them all through the area of greatest need—our Community Fund, dedicated to strategic investment in leadership projects or urgent response in any area. Every gift has the power to strengthen the entire community, for good and forever. Whatever matters to you most, you will find you can support it through YOUR community foundation.

RECREATION AND INCLUSION

ARTS, CULTURE, AND HERITAGE

REMOVE barriers to recreation

MAKE art and culture accessible,

and sports, CULTIVATE access and

CREATE social change through art,

belonging, CREATE connection

and CELEBRATE our

for citizens of all abilities and

diverse cultural heritage.

backgrounds.

EDUCATION AND ENRICHMENT EMPOWER through lifelong

ENVIRONMENT, NATURE, AND CLIMATE

learning, MAKE post secondary

PROMOTE sustainable lifestyles,

more affordable, PROMOTE change

ADVANCE efforts toward climate

through collective wellness and

resilience, PROTECT water,

self improvement.

land, and animals.

Dawn to Dawn Action on Homelessness Society, Denman Conservancy Association, Denman Island Community Education Society, Eureka Support Society, Fanny Bay Community Association, Farm to Family Meals Service Society, Filberg Heritage Lodge and Park Association, Glacier View Lodge Society, Habitat for Humanity Vancouver Island North, Hornby Island Daycare Society, Hornby Island Housing Society, Kid Sport Comox Valley, Lake Trail Community Education Society, L’Arche Comox Valley, LUSH Valley Food Action Society, Multicultural & Immigrant Services Association of North Vancouver Island, Oyster River Enhancement Society, Sid Williams Theatre Society, Stepping Stones Recovery House for Women Society, The John Howard Society of North Island, The Old Church Theatre Society, Tsolum River Restoration Society, Upper Island Women of Native Ancestry Society, Vancouver Island Society for Adaptive Snow Sports, Wachiay Friendship Centre Society, YANA (You Are Not Alone) Comox Valley, and many more.

10

Why choose your community foundation?

We believe that giving locally to any charity or cause is the single greatest investment we can make today to preserve and strengthen this beautiful Valley we call home. With every gift through the Community Foundation, you are assured that your support is reaching those who need it most through local organizations that are proven champions for their cause.

Because you want to:

SUPPORT MANY CAUSES, EASILY IN ONE PLACE Through the Community Foundation, you can choose to channel

MAKE A GIFT THAT LASTS

all your donations toward a single purpose or use one donation to

Consider this: if you make a one-time donation, it will be spent on immediate needs in the same year. If you make a gift to an invested (endowment) fund at the Community Foundation, your giving continues and its impact amplifies over time. Here’s an illustration using a $10,000 gift as an example.

fund many causes.

GIVE YOUR FAVOURITE CHARITY LONG-TERM SUPPORT You can share the love with your favourite charity by supporting their named Agency Fund held in trust with us. Your gift will boost their spending grant both annually and permanently, giving them

YEAR 1

YEAR 10

YEAR 20

YEAR 30

greater focus on their cause and less worry about long-term funding.

$10,000

$13,452

$18,702

$26,002

HELP BUT ARE NOT SURE WHERE TO START Sometimes the desire to help can become overwhelmed by all the choices and uncertainty of where help is really needed most.

$328

$3,821

FUND BALANCE TOTAL GRANTED TO COMMUNITY

$9,134

$16,520

Connecting your gift to the community’s greatest need or to your preferred causes is what we do.

GIVE WITH CONFIDENCE Our asset management and financial policies ensure your gift will continue to help our community for good and forever.

12

GIVE TODAY When you make a donation to the Comox Valley Community Foundation you become a ‘change maker’. Your donation directly empowers organizations dedicated to supporting those in need or working to enrich life in the Comox Valley.

WAYS TO GIVE Whether you wish to donate monthly, annually, or leave a gift in your Will, the opportunities to support your community are many. Every

PERSONAL GIVING

CORPORATE GIVING

LEGACY GIVING

Annual or monthly giving

Annual or monthly corporate giving

Gift in your Will

In honour or in memory of a loved one

Sponsorship with recognition benefits

Real estate

Create a fund in your company name

Securities Tax planning

13

gift helps.

www.cvcfoundation.org

Host a fundraiser Real estate

RRIF/RRSP/TFSA Securities Life insurance Family or memorial endowment fund

DONATE NOW Donate online:

cvcfoundation.org Post to:

PO Box 1454 Comox, BC V9M 7Z9 Contact us:

250-338-8444

office@cvcfoundation.org

www.cvcfoundation.org

Please recycle, pass on to a friend, or return to us for reuse. Printed on paper from responsible, mixed sources.

Photo credit: Special thanks to our many local contributors, including Kerry Dawson, Mason Laver, and Crystal Clear Photography.

We respectfully acknowledge that we live and work within the ancestral and unceded territory of the K’ómoks First Nation.

Publishing date: 10 /22