Canmore’s francophone school has a new way of fundraising to support its students into the future.
École Notre Dame des Monts announced the beginning of an endowment fund in partnership with the Franco-Albertan Foundation earlier this month.
Assistant Superintendent Lorraine Robinson said the fund represents long-term planning and fundraising for the school.
“It would have been very difficult for us as a board to go out and establish an endowment fund,” Robinson said.
Kate Peters with the Franco-Albertan Foundation said the group’s mandate is to invest in the Francophone community.
Peters said not only did the organization help the school board establish the fund, but it will support it as it grows.
“They will continue to support the school board in terms of promoting the funds and managing them for the future,” she said.
The fund is established in the name of the school board and has sub-funds for each school, including Notre-Dame des Monts, and it is required to reach $10,000 within three years.
The local fund is held and managed by the Franco-Albertan Foundation and had its first $3,000 donated by the school council and the Société des parents pour l’éducation francophone de Canmore (SPEF de Canmore).
A steering committee will establish guidelines for the funds accumulated at a board level and the school council will determine how they are used at a local level.
“The success of an endowment fund is when you get large donations,” Robinson said. “You can do a lot every year with the interest created.”
Pierre Boucher, with SPEF and the school council, said he is proud the school board has taken this step to ensure funding for students in the future.
“The idea of the endowment fund is really about looking forward… it’s about building the future,” Boucher said. “It shows that parents care about the future of the school.”
The impetus for finding a fundraising policy and strategy, explained Robinson, came after Bishop Frederick Henry in 2006 gave a directive that school boards should not raise money through casinos or bingos.
