Bridge St. Foundation

Early yesterday evening I attended a meeting of the Bridge St. Foundation. It sounds formal, doesn't it, maybe even elitist? The Foundation has a lot of money invested and its purpose is to fund worthwhile projects and organizations locally, nationally, and internationally. The meeting was to approve the grants and I am a director --appointed by General Council no less! I was in a room with six or seven people who had carefully read applications and decided who would receive funding. I was impressed that they had done their homework, and worked carefully thorough the process of choosing worthy recipients. It's a challenge to respond to all requests in these days when interest rates are so low and income from investments is meager.

Amongst the groups receiving money in this half of the year are a health outreach program in Guatemala and an education program for impoverished women in Afghanistan. A suicide prevention helpline in Toronto is getting a grant, as is a refugee centre in downtown Montreal. Locally, a youth support program in Prince Edward County will receive funding to buy musical instruments. Another round of applications will be considered in the Fall.

The experience of reading through and approving these grants was uplifting, and a reminder that with all the negativity about organized religion this is a very worthwhile endeavour. Someone might look at the monies in trust at Bridge St. and conclude that this is an another example of wealth horded by the church. In fact more than five million dollars has been distributed by the Foundation through the forty years of its existence.  

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