The E.B. Eastburn Postdoctoral Fellowship Fund

Hamilton industrialist and philanthropist Eugene B. Eastburn believed in the power of education to make a difference to people and to their communities.

Half a century later, his legacy to help young scientists pursue their research studies continues through the E.B. Eastburn Postdoctoral Fellowship,” said HCF Board Chair Dr. Gary Warner during the presentation of the 2011 fellowship to McMaster researcher Dr. Constance O’Connor.

Mr. Eastburn, who died in 1962, was president of National Hosiery Mills in Hamilton and also served on the HCF Board. Through a gift in his will, the Foundation has awarded 32 fellowships since his death to researchers located at universities across Canada. Fellows have come from a diverse spectrum of scientific fields ranging from biology and medical sciences to mathematics and zoology.

In presenting the award at the university, Dr. Warner also announced that in future the fellowship will be offered exclusively at McMaster, representing “another level of partnership between the two organizations.”

Considered one of Canada’s most prestigious research fellowships, it provides $80,000 over two years to fund Dr. O’Connor’s research into the genetic makeup of cichids, a highly social fish native to Lake Tanganyika in east Africa. She hopes to provide an evolutionary picture of how social behaviour evolved, and establish a mechanism for underlying social disorders that could apply to mice, birds and mammals.

“Our postdoctoral fellows are members both of the McMaster community and of the Hamilton community,” said Dr. Allison Sekuler, McMaster’s dean of graduate studies. “This partnership with HCF greatly increases our ability to attract the best researchers to Hamilton.”

Excerpt from Spring 2012 Newsletter

Pioneer Energy LP

 

PioneerPioneer Energy and its long history of community support were recognized this fall when it received the corporate Outstanding Philanthropist Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Murray Hogarth, Pioneer’s founder, says he is “proud to have been the leader of a company that has been able to make a difference.” A seasoned volunteer in countless community leadership roles, Murray’s example established Pioneer’s corporate value of philanthropy.

In 1999, Pioneer marked the millennium by establishing the Pioneer Petroleums Children’s Foundation at HCF, and has made more than 250 grants totalling over $2.5 million. The company also created the Pioneer Petroleums Foundation Fund within HCF’s Community Fund to help address Hamilton’s most pressing needs. In addition, Pioneer generously supports a range of other charities across the communities where they are located.

 Equally important, Pioneer paves the way for others to make a difference through community philanthropy. Programs at their retail outlets, like Cent a Litre Days, Give What You Can, and School Bucks Community Bucks, encourage customers and partners to join them in meeting local needs.

 “Pioneer’s people take a lot of pride in supporting the community,” Murray says. “We’re successful because of the communities we work in. It makes good business sense – and it’s just right – to give back.”

Excerpt from Fall 2011 Newsletter

Note-Able Music Fund

The value of arts education for children has been well researched and documented. 

It enhances children’s learning by developing motor, language and literacy abilities.  It provides an alternative way of learning and a means of expression, serving to build bridges among different cultures and life experiences. 

Unfortunately, the arts have been dramatically reduced in Hamilton schools due to budget constraints.  Many families are unable to personally provide these opportunities for their children. 

 The Note-Able Music Fund fills that gap.  It has been funded initially by gifts from two people who were motivated by their love of music and in recognition of the importance of music to their own development: Olive Poulton and Laurie Connon.  Their hope is that this fund will inspire other like-minded individuals to respond similarly and help provide the gift of music to children in our community

Music Fund

Hamilton Community Foundation received two bequests that have been directed to providing bursaries for music students.  These came from the estates of Irene Norris and Merle Williams.  The bursaries are granted to students identified in the music programs at Mohawk College and McMaster University.  Music was very important to both Ms. Norris and Ms. Williams and they wanted to leave a legacy that would help promising and deserving students who were pursuing their music studies in Hamilton.  The first bursaries were awarded in 2013.

Cameron K. MacGillivray Fund

Cameron Knox MacGillivray, F.C.A., L.L.D. was born in 1905 in Chatham, Ont. Cameron MacGillivray spent most of his life in Hamilton where he had two distinguished careers. He was the founder and senior partner of MacGillivray & Co., Chartered Accountants, until 1972 when he retired and assumed the direction of The Hamilton Foundation for the next ten years.

Prominent on numerous local Boards and Committees, he served as President of the Canadian Club, Thistle Club, and the United Nations Association. In addition to honours accorded by his professional colleagues, McMaster University conferred an honorary Doctor of law degree in 1983 recognizing his business career and his extensive voluntary community service.

To those who knew him, Cameron MacGillivray was the original watch-every-penny man. No wonder people trusted him so much; he never strayed far from his chartered accountant’s financial prudence.

In 1971 Cam had just retired as founder and senior partner of MacGillivray and Partners when the esteemed Ellen Fairclough, HCF Board Chair, tapped him for a little project to keep him busy in his sunset years. She asked Cam to become the Executive Director of Hamilton Community Foundation – an unpaid position at the time.

The retirement project became a passion: Cam joined the Foundation and stayed for 10 years, helping to transform the still-fledgling organization into a substantial force in the community. Though on paper Cam worked three half days per week on Foundation business, he never stopped chatting up the cause.

“I know that in Cam’s very quiet but responsible way, he influenced a great many people who subsequently supported the Foundation and helped to build its resources,” says Judith McCulloch, who succeeded Cam as Executive Director in 1982, a position she held for 13 years.

“Cam was highly trusted in the community and I think it was that trust level that made a difference. If he said something was a good thing, people believed him.”

Though it’s more than 20 years since Cam officially retired from HCF, new bequests still flow in that date back to a conversation with Cam decades before.

Excerpt from 2003-2004 Annual Report

Betty and Jack George

Betty and Jack George

Betty and Jack George on their wedding day in 1949.

 As the first person in her family to go to university, psychiatrist Dr. Lindsey George understands the power of education as a pathway to prosperity. “My parents immigrated here in 1957 when I was just three,” she says. “They had limited education, but they were both able to get good factory jobs and make a comfortable living for our family.

That’s not true anymore. Things have changed. We know that for young people today, education is the key to well paying jobs.” With a focus on the future, Lindsey’s parents encouraged her to excel in higher education and she did – first at Mohawk College’s Child and Youth Program, then through an honours BA at night at McMaster University, a master’s degree from York University, and finally – at age 39 with two children – her MD from McMaster. “My father was dying when I applied to medical school,” says Lindsey with tears in her eyes, “but he hung on until he heard that I had been accepted.”

As a tribute to her parents, Lindsey and her husband Peter Archibald started the Betty and Jack George Family Fund at Hamilton Community Foundation. It consolidates their charitable giving and focuses on employment for youth in poverty and at risk, areas that she and Peter are passionate about. They were attracted to HCF because of its leadership role in poverty reduction and in working collaboratively. “In all my volunteer life, I haven’t seen this kind of coming together,” Lindsey says. “The Foundation has found a way to connect people on important issues – people from different fields of work, different histories and experiences, and different cultures. It’s a new and exciting way of working.”

Lindsey was chairing a multi-sector group working toward affordable housing when she first approached Hamilton Community Foundation for advice. Since then, she has participated in the Hamilton Roundtable on Poverty Reduction and is an HCF board member. “HCF brings together incredibly active, passionate people,” she says, “and I’m learning every day. If we can get the word out about the work Hamilton Community Foundation is doing, people will want to support it as Peter and I have. We’re still in the middle of our careers, but even a modest contribution like ours can have a huge impact today and even more in the years to come.” 

The couple’s encouragement of higher education is celebrated through daughter Lindsey and son-in-law Peter’s fund at HCF.

Excerpt from 2009-2010 Annual Report

Annie S. Nieman Fund

Nan Stott and her family came to Canada from England after the First World War. They were a musical family, singers and pianists. She worked in various offices around town, latterly as a switchboard operator at CHML Radio. The wartime effort of the 1940’s inspired her to canvass tirelessly, and successfully, for the Victory Bond campaign. Her husband Sam, who had worked for the local newspaper and enjoyed a reputation as a basketball star, died several years ago.

Excerpt from 1989-1990 Annual Report

The Hamilton Spectator Summer Camp Fund

The Hamilton Spectator Summer Camp Fund is used to provide camperships to children whose families could not otherwise afford the cost of summer camp.  Funds are distributed to day and overnight camps in our community

The Hamilton Spectator Summer Camp Fund is a partnership between Hamilton Community Foundation and The Hamilton Spectator.

Priorities & Criteria

To be eligible for funding the applicant must meet the following criteria:

Grant awards are provided for one or two week sessions only.

Applications will be assessed using the following criteria to determine the level of support:

 

Donate Now

Jack A. Winser Fund

After attending Adelaide Hoodless Elementary School and Delta Collegiate, Jack Alfred Winser worked at this father’s firm, Quaker City Chemical, which supplied soaps to the textile and tanning industries. He retired from his position as president in the mid-1970′s.

Of his many hobbies, which ranged from collecting antique carriage clocks, watches and crystal, to creating rock gardens, reading mystery books, and traveling, Jack Winser’s primary passion was the railroad. Whether model or life size, trains fascinated him.

A friend, Murray McDiarmid, recalls Mr. Winser as generous in his friendships and as someone who really enjoyed meeting people. Jack’s wife and son predeceased him, and since his family had emigrated from England, there were no relatives here.

A supporter of several charities, Mr. Winser left the residue of his estate to the Foundation.

Excerpt from 1995-1996 Annual Report

 

James Sinclair Wilson

After 51 years behind the wheel, cab owner and driver James Sinclair Wilson had earned the affectionate title, “King of the Cabbies” bestowed by his peers in the industry. A regular in front of the then Royal Connaught Hotel, Mr. Wilson’ s Royal Taxi frequently chauffeured such athletes as Gordie Howe and Eric Lindros, singers Tony Bennett and The Four Seasons, as well as hundreds of Hamiltonians. The self made, self-educated driver had the gift of the gab and talked with ease to all of them. Daughter Lori Tomasik remembers the fierce pride he took in his cars. “He had the first air-conditioned cab in the city and the first one with a television set.” His keen interest in the community and world events made cover-to-cover reading of the newspaper a daily ritual. His bequest to the Foundation and the residue of his estate upon the death of his heirs, is consistent with the fact that he was a very giving man, confirms Ms. Tomasik.

Excerpt from 1995-1996 Annual Report