10 Apr Vidar Foundation Update
– by Vincente Belenson
2013 was an active year for Vidar Foundation. We welcomed Robert McKay and Bevan Ballah on the Board of Directors.
Robert offered to help with promotion and he designed a new flyer for us. Vincente Belenson has set up our new website which you can find at www.vidarfoundation.org.
Through the Nova Scotia branch of the Anthroposophical Society we were contacted in July 2013 by the South Shore Waldorf School Association. They were offered the opportunity of purchasing the school property which they had been renting since 2001 and they were now investigating possibilities of how to finance the purchase. The South Shore Waldorf School is supported by a very active and dedicated parent body and community of friends. They have come up with some innovative fundraising ideas, e.g. the Airstream Cafe which was established to provide a steady annual income and is run totally by volunteers. As well they created a Borrowing and Donating Community, the first of its kind in Canada. Since our last fiscal year end, August 31,2013, Vidar Foundation was able to raise another $195,000 in short and long-term loans which enabled us to extend to SSWSA the first mortgage.
In 2007 we set up a planned giving campaign and in conjunction with it an endowment fund to which a generous donor contributed $30,000. While ordinary donations must be spent within a year of receipt, an endowment fund lets us hold donation money for a longer time period, i.e. ten years or more. We invest the money from the endowment fund in initiatives that fall within our mandate.
Our own equity (money we can spend at our discretion) is gradually increasing, however most of our working assets are in the form of loan money and we are not able to support projects requiring grant money at present.
We welcome inquiries from individuals who are interested in Vidar Foundation’s fostering of social initiatives and who might consider joining our effort.
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