Letter to the Editor
RE: North Thompson Communities Foundation
The North Thompson Communities Foundation (NTCF) was founded in 2003 and began to service the North Thompson Valley communities from McLure to Blue River. At the time, the North Thompson Valley was host to several large logging companies, Weyerhaeuser being the largest. For whatever reason, Weyerhaeuser decided to leave the valley. Hence, a few community minded people approached the management and suggested they leave a legacy for the valley. They suggested that a Foundation be created and invited the company to be part of this as their legacy. The company believed in this concept and offered $50,000 to get the foundation started. This money was invested with the Vancouver Foundation as there was an opportunity to “double” our money to $100,000. Thus began the investment strategy of the NTCF.
20 years later, the NTCF continues to serve the North Thompson Valley communities. The North Thompson Communities Foundation awards grants to nonprofit organizations, groups and societies for a variety of purposes, activities and programs, as well as bursaries for youth in the valley. These funds are generated from the interest from our investments, as well as legacies from various valley families. We are humbled by the generosity of those community minded people.
We are proud of our service, as we know that the Foundation has affected positive change within our boundaries. From the arts (an example would be the mural on the Sportsplex in Clearwater) to Community Gardens from Barriere to Blue River, your Foundation has assisted. During the Covid years we also were part of the tri-party (United Way/Red Cross and Foundations of Canada) recovery fund during which we provided all sorts of support – from loads of firewood to speaker systems to food programs.
We will be having a NTCF 20th Anniversary celebration BBQ with games and a local band entertaining the community and guests, along with a number of short speeches. Barriere’s event will be at the Fadear Park (Aug 19) and Clearwater’s event will be at the Elks Hall (Aug 20). Both events will begin in typical valley style, at approximately noon. Everyone is welcome! Come out and eat, visit and share your stories of how the North Thompson Communities Foundation has assisted you or your group, we would love to hear all about it.
Sincerely,
Cheryl Thomas
North Thompson Communities Foundation Director