Summary
Windspeaker.com Staff
With files from Jeremy Harpe of CFWE-FM
A $12 million donation will benefit Indigenous communities and individuals across the country, said a spokesperson for the Slaight Family Foundation, but who are the people behind such generosity?” Jeremy Harpe of CFWE-FM wanted to know.
The foundation starts with Gary Slaight, the president and CEO, said spokeswoman Terry Smith.
The Slaight family is Canadian and owned several radio stations across the country. They sold their company several years ago and created the foundation, which supports the arts, health and social services.
“He’s taken a very strategic approach to his philanthropy,” Smith said of Gary Slaight.
Instead of giving grants to one organization at a time, over the past five years or so he has taken themes or sectors where there are issues that need to be addressed. Slaight researches the issues and decides on collective amounts to give to organizations to address an issue.
In 2013, he gave millions to five Toronto hospitals. The next year his focus was on global humanitarianism. Last year the money went to the growth and development of children and youth.
This year it was Indigenous initiatives, specifically the physical, mental, and social wellbeing of Indigenous populations.
Given the “terrible state” of some Indigenous communities and the results of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, it just seemed to be the right time to look in this area, and try and do what they could about it, Smith said.
The decision to fund certain organizations came from consulting Indigenous leaders across the country to understand the key issues affecting Indigenous communities, and to determine how the foundation could help out.
Some of the dollars provide scholarships through Indspire for post-secondary opportunities, as well as culture, language and arts training.
Outward Bound is another recipient, and they are training 50 Indigenous councillors who will go out to Indigenous communities to implement Outward Bound programs. Their mission is to cultivate resilience, leadership, connections and compassion through inspiring and challenging journeys of self-discovery in the natural world, reads the website.
The Moosehide campaign, will receive funds to bring awareness to violence against Indigenous women and girls. Moosehide is to implement a few community initiatives, that will create a model to later expand across the country.
And there are scholarships for Indigenous artist to attend the Banff Centre of Arts and Creativity for the “ultimate in arts training”.
Each organization has submitted proposals, and all have certain goals and impacts they have to reach, and the money will be monitored over a five-year period to see the results.
Among the organizations receiving funds are the 4Rs Youth Movement, the ArtsCan Circle, Camp Onakawana, the Child Development Institute, the National Arts Centre, Right to Play, the Royal Ontario Museum, St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation, Teach for Canada and WE (Free the Children).
Listen to the full interview: https://youtu.be/N0gAkKn-gYE
#ListenLive to CFWE here: http://www.cfweradio.ca
See our related story: See our story here: http://www.windspeaker.com/news/windspeaker-news/banff-centre-among-the-recipients-of-slaight-family-foundation-dollars/