Charity begins at home for Donald and Andrée McMaster.
One need only to see the list of causes to which the Grimsby couple regularly donate to know that’s true. So it was an easy decision to set up a fund with the Niagara Community Foundation to maximize the impact of their charitable giving close to home.
“I’m quite adamant I want my money spent in my region,” Donald says. “I want it spent close to home, within my community. I’m concerned about the people around me.”
The couple could have continued with their usual pattern of giving in a piecemeal way. But the Donald and Andrée McMaster Fund, administered by NCF, means they can continue giving to the causes dear to them – the Grimsby Benevolent Fund, FORT and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Niagara, for example – while also addressing critical needs elsewhere that they may not know.
“I have my favourites in the community but the community needs more than where I’m giving,” Donald explains. “The community foundation distributes funds to where I want, but at the end of the day, there’s going to be excess funds and I don’t know every cause that needs money.”
NCF has a long and established history of directing donor funds in a transparent and responsible way, he adds. That means trust was inherent in the relationship between the organization and couple.
The Foundation’s expertise in helping to create new avenues of giving was also a selling point. Down the road, Donald is keen to create scholarships for Specialist High Skills Major students at both of Grimsby’s high schools to encourage young people to pursue careers in skilled trades. NCF has the know-how to establish a variety of different kinds of funds, all in keeping with the couple’s core value of helping in their community first.
“Life has been good to me and I have to share,” Donald says. “I can’t fix the world, but I can start close to home, one thing at a time.”
