SARI Therapeutic Riding is an organization that many London Community Foundation fundholders and donors will be familiar with. You might not know that SARI has held a Registered Charity Fund of its own at the Foundation for nearly 25 years, providing reliable unrestricted funding to support the infrastructure needed for SARI to sustain itself and grow.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, community service organizations across Canada faced significant challenges. Community Foundations of Canada, Canadian Red Cross, and United Way Centraide Canada collaborated to distribute a one-time investment of $400 million from the Government of Canada through the Community Services Recovery Fund (CSRF). East Village Animal Hospital-London is one of the community groups that has made significant improvements thanks to the Community Services Recovery Fund.

The John Howard Society of London and District is a not-for-profit, community service organization dedicated to helping individuals and families at risk of conflict, or who have conflicted with the law in and around London since 1947. Having recognized the growing need for housing in and around London at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, they took their first steps into housing services specifically for people coming out of incarceration in 2020.

One of the key things that makes philanthropy with London Community Foundation so impactful is that it’s sustainable and lasts forever. Many of the organizations that hold funds with us also take a sustainable approach to their work by tackling the issues they’re working to solve at source. One such organization is the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, whose London affiliate opened a fund with the Foundation in 2022.

As a fundholder at London Community Foundation, Lorraine Ivey Shuttleworth knew that her fund would continue to grant to the causes she cared about forever, though when thinking about how the fund would continue her legacy, she went down a different path.

As a “one-time budding rock star,” StarTech.com Founder and CEO Paul Seed dreamed of a career in music. But life had other plans. After starting a successful business in the 80s, shortly following graduation from Western University, Paul realized that being an entrepreneur was his true calling

Time. Talent. Treasures. Without those three words, our community and our country would be vastly colder and much less hospitable. And International Women’s Day is a perfect occasion to say, ‘thank you.’

Yasmin Hussain from the Muslim Resource Centre for Social Support & Integration shares an update on the work done with the support of the Strong Together Fund. In 2021, $122,203.48 was granted to the MRCSSI to help with the response to the impacts of terrorist attack on Our London Family.

2024 Sees the start of a two-year term for Jim Alexander as London Community Foundation’s Board Chair, taking over from Erin Naylor. Jim recently shared some of his thoughts on his new position with us.

When Southwest Ontario Aboriginal Health Access Centre applied for a Community Vitality Grant in 2022, they shared with us a concerning 470% increase in clients reporting food insecurity to their healthcare provider from 2018 to 2021. 

The Geddes Family Foundation, administered through the London Community Foundation, announces a substantial donation to Junior Achievement South Western Ontario (JASWO) in support of the charity’s “The Next 60 Starts Here” 60th Anniversary campaign. Established in 2018, the Geddes Family Foundation is dedicated to supporting education and health initiatives