The Cortes Island Community Foundation exists to support the wide variety of nonprofits, charities, community organizations, programs, and initiatives on the island. CICF made significant strides in 2022, and as a member of the Community Foundations of Canada, we continue to connect with other like-minded community foundations across Canada who are working to help build and strengthen their own communities. Having this resource and these connections has allowed us to quickly share ideas and experiences, while learning and growing much faster than going it alone.

Thanks to the significant efforts of our Executive Director, Manda Aufochs Gillespie, we were able to help launch the Cortes Island Academy (CIA). CIA is an out-of-the box high school semester program offered in partnership with the Campbell River School District; made possible with funding received from a DFO grant along with other donations received from within our community. For the first time ever on Cortes, students had the ability to earn high school credits with place-based, project-based, experiential, public education. Previously, families were left to choose between leaving their home to seek a high school education or sending their children away to board at great personal expense. This resulted in many students dropping out of school altogether. To help ensure the ongoing success of this Program we will do our best to continue providing funding and support until The Cortes Island Academy becomes a self-sustaining Non-Profit organization of its own.

CICF is proud to be one of the many community foundations across Canada participating in the Communities for Gender Equality Initiative; a national effort to advance gender equality in communities across Canada. This initiative is a collaboration between Community Foundations of Canada, the Equality Fund and the Government of Canada. By participating in this initiative, we, and other participating foundations, are committing to bringing a gender lens to our own organizational practices on all levels- from governance to investing. Through this program, CICF received $40,000 to grant to local gender supportive initiatives on Cortes.

The Cortes Island Community Foundation, with assistance from volunteer community leaders, has partnered with the Strathcona Regional District and previous Director Noba Anderson to assist with the dispersion and review of the grant-in-aid requests for the 2022 year. The recommendations of the committee have be submitted to the Strathcona Regional District board for final consideration and anticipated endorsement.

We ended this year receiving the wonderful news, in late November, that we will be included in The Community Services Recovery Fund; a $400 million dollar investment from the Government of Canada to support charities and non-profits as they focus on adapting their organizations for pandemic recovery. We expect around $100,000 to be disbursed by summer 2023 to our local Cortes based Community Service Organizations.

Special mention goes to Manda’s amazing assistants, Bella McKnight and Kiera Tsakonas and to our on-the-ball Bookkeeper Ieva McKenty, these incredible women’s efforts helped us make it through a year or growth and transition.

We look forward to continuing to be in service to the special community that is Cortes, and to grow these stories of success into 2023!

Warmly,

The CICF Board of Directors
Mark Spevakow, Ian Watson, Christina MacWilliam, John Preston, Forest Berman Hatch, Ayton Novak & Christopher Fleck.