Phoenix Foundation's new board continues the legacy
By Boundary Sentinel
Helping the Boundary communities thrive has always been the backbone that motivates the board of the Phoenix Foundation of the Boundary Communities, and this year has been no exception. At their annual general meeting, held on Sept. 8, the board renewed their commitment to continuing the important work of the foundation.
The foundation’s audited report indicated that their funds have recovered from the economic downturn in the previous year, and supported the board’s decision to give grants in 2010. In her report to the board, President Maxine Ruzicka provided an update on the foundation’s activities for the year which were largely focused on their Vital Signs project, completed in 2009 and presented to the community in October of last year. Much of the future work of the foundation will utilize the information gathered from the report to prioritize their giving programs. “2009 was a year of recovery for the foundation,” said Ruzicka. “We’re pleased that our funds have become more buoyant again allowing us to be able to provide grants for needed projects throughout our region once again. The Vital Signs project was a large undertaking for our small foundation, but the information we gathered will guide our future decisions. In fact we provided a grant of $4,500 this year to the Kettle River Watershed planning process because of the high priority water and the environment was given in the Vital Signs report.” The board of directors for the year 2010 / 2011 are: Maxine Ruzicka, president, Leda Leander, vice-president, Becky Deane, secretary and Yshift co-ordinator, Val Kelly, treasurer, Roland Krueger, director and chair of fund development, Linda Manzon, director and chair of grants committee, Marilyn Strukoff and Darla Ashton, directors-at-large, Christine Thompson, City of Grand Forks liaison. Although the foundation had to minimize granting in 2009 / 2010 fiscal year, they were happy to be able to resume their granting process this spring in their new year. Eleven recipients were able to access the foundation’s grants as well as the named funds and agency funds totally over $35,000. Named funds are created by private donors who want to contribute to a specific cause, often in memory of a loved one. Agency funds are endowments set up by non-profit organizations to reduce their dependency on outside funding organizations. Annual investment returns provide the named and agency funds with financial options. If you haven’t already signed up, you can support the work of the foundation by attending the annual golf tournament on Oct. 3 at the Christina Lake Golf Course hosted by the Grand Forks Rotary along with the foundation board – working together with communities, the foundation aims to build a better Boundary! For more information about the foundation visit their website at: www.phoenix-foundation.net.
