Mission Statement Our mission is to support local organizations, and help our community grow. We provide an avenue for people to leave a lasting legacy.
The Miami and Area Foundation was formed by a group of like-minded citizens who discussed establishing a foundation after the Rural Municipality of Thompson lost a few prominent residents in 2007. In 2008, founding board members Brian Callum, Huntley Knox, George Jackson and Donald Alexander signed the legal documents to form the Miami Area Foundation. The Foundation was incorporated October 16, 2009 and the RM of Thompson seeded the Miami and Area Foundation with $20,000. The Miami and Area Foundation is registered with Revenue Canada as a registered charity.
The Miami and Area Foundation is affiliated with The Winnipeg Foundation and structured primarily as a permanent collection of funds which are invested and earnings used to fund local charities and address community priorities. We have provided grants since 2011. For more information on the Miami and Area Foundation’s investment policy, click here.
The governing body is composed of area volunteers that represent the Rural Municipality of Thompson. The 2022 Board of Directors includes:
Gorden Simpson (Chair), Brian Callum (Vice-Chair), Tricia Livingston (Treasurer), Arli Cruikshank, Nancy Knox, Karen Orchard, Judy Rudd-Henderson, and Caroline Steppler.
In 2020, the Miami and Area Foundation joined Endow Manitoba’s regional staffing project. This five-year agreement involves the collaboration of participating community foundations in Manitoba, including the , Miami and Area Foundation, Carman Area Foundation, Big Grass Community Foundation and North Norfolk Foundation. These foundations are pooling their financial resources and, through a $10 million Endow Manitoba trust funded by the provincial government, are able to employ a full-time staff person to undertake many of the partnering community foundations’ core operational activities. In turn, this will allow the volunteer board and committee members to focus their limited time on additional community foundation priorities. Caddie Crampton took this role in 2021.
The Miami and Area Foundation thanks all donors, past and present, for their gifts and helping Dreams Live On in our community.