“Advocacy doesn’t have to be loud to be impactful. In my experience, leadership begins with yourself and those around you. At my school, our International Club promoted understanding by displaying posters in the school. It is a good example of finding actionable steps to approach big issues. Furthermore, being a compassionate friend and role model will provide you with the experience it takes to be an effective advocate.”
Read MoreEileen Ruebsam passed away in 2018 having never established a fund or even made a donation to London Community Foundation, but she was watching us keenly and felt strongly about what we do. Imagine our surprise then, when we found out that Eileen had left us over $1.9 million of unrestricted money towards our Community Fund in her will.
Read More2022 Was the first year for the J. Douglas Earthy Community Service Award, and one of the winners, Matt Horst, told us about his experience volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters of London and Area.
Read MoreDespite being just 17, Neha Rawal has done incredible things to make her community a better place. Neha, who was given the J. Allyn Taylor Community Service Award this year, tells us why being a positive influence on her community important to her.
Read More"I want people to know, you do not need to 100% understand an identity in order to respect it. You do not need to know why someone prefers to be called “they” over “he” or “she” to do it. I don’t understand math, but I still acknowledge and respect its existence." Mckenna tells us about the work she's done to support, lead, and advocate for LGBTQ2+ people.
Read MoreNatalie Fasheh, this years recipient of the Ken Fleet Choral Conducting Scholarship, reflects on the experiences that led to her to conducting and tells us about her goals of around promoting equity amongst future generations of conductions and musicians.
Read MoreWayne is a giving guy. He’s always been that way and still wants to be that way when he’s gone. Recently, Wayne took the decision to take his giving one step further by making a bequest to LCF in his will, maximizing the legacy he’ll be leaving.
Read MoreSamantha Joel and James Marchment are not your typical big-time philanthropists. They’re young and early in their careers, and their fund is relatively small. And they’re just fine with that. “It’s never too early to give back if you can. This is a great way to handle our giving,” explains Sam.
Read MoreBeckett was a technology whiz, a kid who built his first computer at age 11. He was captain of his school’s robotics team and volunteered with a junior robotics team and a computer camp for kids. He was an animal lover who once rescued a llama that had run away from a petting zoo.
Read MoreAs a volunteer at the city art gallery, Judith had an opportunity to interact with art and artists as the London Regionalism movement led by Greg Curnoe and Jack Chambers gathered steam. Eventually that experience led to a job at the London Regional Art Gallery (LRAG) as director of public programmes, and then as chief curator.
Read MoreLCF is deeply saddened by the passing of dedicated volunteer and community leader, Deb Peckham. Deb was a beautiful person and the London Community Foundation was blessed by her friendship and many contributions.
Read MoreTatiana Zdyb’s childhood was far from typical. Tatiana was homeschooled with her brother and sister in Toronto by her parents, and due to a belief that women should not be educated, they refused to support her post-secondary studies.
Read MoreRon Dawson is a life-long Londoner, growing up on Richmond Street North across from the old Richmond Dairy during the Great Depression.
“It was a pretty tough time – lots of people suffered immensely during the Depression,” recalls Ron. “People would go up and down the street, begging for food, or work, or anything at all really. It wasn’t easy for most people, but luckily we managed to get by.”
Read MoreDr. Gordon Sellery grew up and went to school in Toronto, eventually studying medicine at the University of Toronto before traveling to England for post-graduate work. Upon his return to Canada, he spent a year with the Grenfell Medical Mission in northern Newfoundland and Labrador.
“I had a very interesting experience traveling the coastlines by dog team or a ski-equipped airplane looking after the medical needs of small fishing communities,” recalls Gord. “I worked with a lot of wonderful people up there who lived off the land, without much disposable income. I donated books and things like that to the local school to help out the community whenever I could.”
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