Mercedes-Benz Oakville is proud to partner with the Oakville Community Foundation.
The seed of the idea of a community foundation for Oakville came from two early proponents, Bruce Etherington and Ann Mulvale, and two benefactors: The Lawson Foundation and The De Maio family. Meetings were held with representatives of United Way of Oakville, challenging it to provide leadership in developing a community foundation to serve the area.
Under the leadership of Bruce Etherington and (then) Mayor Ann Mulvale, a steering committee began laying the groundwork for the Community Foundation. After many meetings and much work by a growing group of volunteers, the federal government approved letters patent creating The Community Foundation of Oakville (the "CFO") on March 10, 1994.
By the end of that first year, the OCF had assets of $355,000. The Lawson Foundation pledged $300,000 over three years, jump-starting the Foundation's Community Fund, which is an unrestricted fund giving the Board of Directors flexibility to decide where income from the fund can best be put to work to meet community needs. Alexander and Bernice De Maio established the first Donor Advised Fund, whereby the donor advises the Foundation of the projects to be supported. United Way of Oakville created the first Agency Endowment to help meet its growing needs. The Board made its first community grant, of $10,000, to the coalition of groups that built the Waterfront stage in Coronation Park.
In 2008 the OCF published its first Vital Signs Report, an annual community check-up and report card measuring the vitality of Oakville and designed to stimulate discussion of local issues and to find community solutions for identified challenges. The OCF ended 2008 with an asset base of approximately $28 million and we and our fundholders granted and disbursed approximately $1.1 million in 2008. The foundation has granted in excess of $12 million during its 15 years of operation. In June 2009, Supplementary Letters Patent were issued changing the name of the Foundation to the "Oakville Community Foundation" (OCF).
At the Oakville Community Foundation, we know that tomorrow's successes start with the commitments of our donors today. Through the encouragement of our donors we are building a better future for our community.
Click here to visit the Oakville Community Foundation Website
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