On Tuesday evening in Perth, the Governor of WA and the Premier of WA addressed an audience of over 250 at the Good Giving – Good Impact event encouraging more giving in Western Australia. At the event one of our sub-funds Impact 100 WA was launched by the Chair of their Advisory Committee, Simon Bedbrook.
Impact 100WA was established at ACF in January by a group of likeminded professionals in WA. It is well on its way to $100,000 in donations. Impact100 WA is a donor giving circle, the concept that $100,000 is raised for one big impact grants through 100 donations of $1,000 minimum. The focus for a grant in 2012 is disadvantaged youth or youth at risk.
One of the newer sub-funds of Australian Communites Foundation is the Steve Lawrence Social Innovation Fund.
Established by a small commitee in Sydney, the sub-fund is supporting the development of a number of programs, including Australian
Social Innovation Funding Network (ASIFN).
Friends and colleagues recently celebrated Steve’s 60th birthday "which was a wonderful celebration and testament to his commitment
to improving lives and building stronger communities. He has done this by
working with each of us to create innovative solutions to some of our most
pressing social problems such as youth and long term unemployment and
overcoming the Digital Divide."
As part of these celebrations, the
Steve Lawrence Social Innovation Sub-Fund was launched to further
develop a number of innovative initiatives Steve has been working on in
recent years.
These are listed below and are outlined further in the
attachments:
· The Funding Network - This is based on the successful
program in the UK and is essentially a membership model that enables people to
join together, pool their funds and make them available to innovative social
change projects via a series of “Dragon’s Den” style events. (more info)
· Social Change 101- A strategy to provide skills and knowledge,
networking and support to citizens to create change in
their own community by delivering a basic training program run by skilled
trainers through community colleges.(more info)
· Social Changemakers’
Community and Festival- A strategy to engage people from all sectors of society
to recognise the critical social challenges facing Australia and the world. It
also endeavours to celebrate and provide recognition to the work of Australian
social changemakers who are achieving exciting results in responding to some of
our important social problems. (more info)
· Social Innovator in Residence Program- A strategy designed
to help not for profits embed innovation into their organisation by placing an
experienced social innovator in their team. (more info)
From the Steve Lawrence Social Innovation Sub-Fund
As much of this work is cutting edge, in many cases organisations supported are not Tax Deductible
Charities. This means that when you make a donation there are 2 ways to support
this work and it’s critical that you name your preferred Sub Fund on the giving
form:
1. Steve Lawrence Social Innovation Non Tax Deductible
Sub-Fund-
this will support initiatives for which you cannot receive a tax deduction.
Giving in this way provides maximum flexibility to the ongoing work of the Fund
2. Steve Lawrence Social Innovation Sub-Fund- this will support
initiatives for which you can receive a tax deduction
You
can make a donation to the Sub-Fund by following this link
We also ask that you consider how supporting
the Sub-Fund by forward this email onto your own personal and professional
networks and consider how you could support this work (Fundraising, Marketing,
Website and Admin support).
We believe that these initiatives will be
a catalyst for positive social change and make a substantial difference to
people’s lives, but will also provide a way of honouring the work Steve has
done in the community in partnership with each of us.
WHY DID I DECIDE TO BECOME A
PHILANTHROPIST? AND WHY GIVE TO PROJECTS IN
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES?
David Morawetz, Ph.D. Founder and Director, Social
Justice Fund
Presented
at the Princeton University conference on “Philanthropy, Ethics and
International Aid” May 6, 2005 (with some data updated
in October 2010).
When my father Paul Morawetz died, sadly, in April 2001, I inherited
a share of his estate. It turned out to be more money than I need. It was clear
to me that I wanted to use most of this money to do something, no matter how
small, to reduce social and economic injustice, and inequality of opportunity.
So I set up the Social Justice Fund (a sub-fund of the Melbourne Community
Foundation). I am eternally grateful to my father for providing me with the
means to do this. I am grateful to him, too, for the chance to test how deeply
held my egalitarian beliefs are. I am happy to find that they are deeply held
indeed.
Why a Social
Justice Fund?
I have always believed that life is unfair. In particular, I
believe that the biggest lottery in life is: what country are you born in, and
into which family? I believe that it is unfair that, by pure accident of birth,
some people (like myself) have a relatively easy start in life, being born into
families that are relatively well-off, whereas others have to struggle all the
way because they are born into very poor families, or families who (for
whatever reason) are less able to support and nurture them.
This belief of mine was strengthened many years ago when I
spent a summer in India at age 18, backpacking and travelling on third class
trains, seeing at first hand extreme poverty and deprivation. Although I am not
a religious person, “there but for the grace of God go I” is a saying that
still resonates with me. (Except that in my case it reads: “there but for luck
go I”).
I believe in: “From each according to his or her ability, to
each according to his or her needs.” I understand that, human nature being what
it is, we don’t seem to be able to set up a workable political system along
these lines. That doesn’t mean we can’t try to approach it on a personal basis.
After all, why should one percent of the world’s population own more than 20%
of the world’s resources? We are all born and have no choice where or when, we
all die and we generally have no choice where, when or how – to me, that makes
us all equal. Why then, should we not do what we can to make economic
opportunity and standards of living as equal as we can?
New sub-fund to support second and third year apprentice chefs who might be disadvantaged through financial or family circumstances … Phyllis Budd (or Aunty Phil as she was affectionately known) came to Australia as a cook/nanny in July 1958 and soon took up a chef’s position at a suburban hotel in Melbourne’s west run by the Caneva family.
Phyllis had just turned 40 and had spent her life ‘in service’, as the English called it, working in the kitchens of all the big London houses, several with Royal connections, since the age of 13.
She was one of 11 children and the only one not to marry. She looked after her parents until they died and then decided to emigrate. She came to Australia for the sunshine, to swim in the sea and to escape the sleet and snowy slush of Southhampton winters.
In her suitcase were her trusty “Mrs. Beaton” cookbooks. She immediately became part of the family at the Strand Hotel run by Bert and Roma Caneva – Italians with a family history in the hotel/restaurant business.
The youngest son Jon was just 4 when Aunty Phil took over the hotel kitchen and the shared care of the children. Lina was just 13 months old.
“By the time Michele came along in 1961, Aunty Phil was assuredly our second mother. Mum, Roma treated her like a sister and we shared our lives together,” recalls Lina.
Phyllis called herself a ‘cook’ and as the years progressed she became well known by the hotel patrons for her ‘beer battered fish’, roasts with Yorkshire pudding, decorated pigs heads and wonderful pancakes along with an enviable work ethic.
She was very particular about her fresh produce and cuts of meat and traveled to the market gardens of Werribee on weekends with the ‘kids’ in her little blue Hillman Minx car, she called Hilary, to pick up dozens of fresh eggs for her kitchen.
Cooking was a mainstay in her life and cooking has always been part of the Caneva family. Grand father Giovanni Batista trained as a chef, as did Bert Caneva and then young Jon trained with one of Melbourne’s renowned ‘spaghetti mafia’ families; the Viganos.
Jon’s youngest son David then trained as a chef and his oldest son, Daniel is the licensee of the Post Office Hotel in Coburg, which was named The Age newspaper’s Pub of the Year for its food in 2010.
Since Aunty Phil’s passing, Jon, Lina and Michele have wanted to remember her life and love of cooking by encouraging 2nd and 3rd year apprentice chefs to stick with it.
“Many start first year but some struggle to keep going either due to work pressure or family and financial issues.
Aunty Phil would have loved to encourage them to keep going and not to give up. Hers was an organized kitchen that ran well even under the pressure of 300 lunches on a 40-degree day.
This Fund under the Melbourne Community Foundation hopes to assist apprentice chefs in financial hardship or other disadvantage, to remain in the course, providing them with much needed uniforms, tools of the trade including chefs’ knives and even a chance to travel overseas for work experience.
The restaurant trade has enthusiastically come together to help launch the Phyllis Budd Fund.
Lina’s godson, Daniel Rahilly currently works at the Richmond Enoteca and is in his fourth year as an apprentice chef, having worked for renowned chefs from Ezards and St Jude.
He and his mother Annie have joined the Caneva family on the advisory committee to help chose the funding recipients.
“When our mother passed away in 1977, Phyllis was on her first trip home to England. She rushed back to Australia to look after us, especially Michele who was just 16 years old,” said Lina.
“She comforted us with her cooking and her home remedies for just about everything, always encouraging us to do our best.”
“That’s why we want to keep her memory alive in young chefs in Australia; her adopted home.”
She passed away in July 2008 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
The Brighton Bathing Boxes (in Melbourne!) are renowned as a tourist icon. The Portsea Bathing Boxes are renowned for their exorbitant prices. The Baileys Beach Bathing Boxes – now there’s a Melbourne secret! Tucked away past the fastest developing suburbs in Australia, past the market gardens with their broccoli fields and past the Point Cook RAAF training centre are some real hidden gems and I am fortunate to own one! Where else can you find yourself just a metre from the water looking back to the city skyline and across the bay to Arthurs Seat and Mt Martha. And all just a 30 minute drive from the CBD.
I have been a very – I repeat very – small donor with my own fund under the auspices of the Melbourne Community Foundation. My fund was set up in the early days of MCF specifically to distribute upon my death – hopefully for me in the far distant future – but for the fund the sooner the better!
Since the GFC I have not been able to add to the fund as I have watched my hard earned cash flow sink like a stone. I felt there was no way that I could be involved with the far reaching community which has been created by the MCF. But that all changed when I had a long discussion with the dynamic CEO Sarah Davies and an idea formed as we were talking.
“I have a boatshed right on the beach just a short drive from the city. Perhaps you may have some contacts who may benefit from an excursion to enjoy what I’m told is my ‘quirky’ boatshed. Could a ‘day in the sun’ for them be arranged?”
Spend It Well is small charity achieving big outcomes. Spend It Well was established in 2008 by a small group of people wanting to help local communities in poor nations, but tired of donating money and seeing no tangible results.
Spend It Well was created to enable donors to directly support short term projects and remain involved throughout the project with regular updates. Donors also have the opportunity to visit the project to see the outcome of their involvement. 100% of funds donated go directly to the nominated project.
Spend It Well has established a sub-fund at Melbourne Community Foundation so that it can offer tax deductible donations for existing and potential donors. It has built two schools in East Timor to date and has plans to build two more schools this year. It will work with Melbourne Community Foundation to arrange and fund those and future projects in East Timor and other developing countries. For more information visit their website www.spenditwell.com.
The Kristian Fredrikson Scholarship For Design in The Performing Arts was established in May 2008.
Our area of interest is theatrical design and its realization.
The fund wants to:
provide career development opportunities to theatrical designers, and makers, craftpersons, technicians, and specialists who realize the design’s vision by awarding a travel scholarship,
create an on-going memorial to the career of the late Kristian Fredrikson and to perpetuate the memory of his involvement in developing excellence in design in the performing arts,
create an opportunity to allow others apart from ourselves to invest in the future of Australian design in the performing Arts,
raise the profile of Australian design for the performing arts and its realisation in productions and performance.
Our founding committee is comprised of three theatrical designers, one costumier and a theatre academic. The scholarship selection committee is comprised of ten designers, two directors, two choreographers, and two makers.
We came to MCF because wanted to support a non profit organization and we required the knowledge and expertise of the Board, staff and other donors. It was a quick and simple process to set up our fund. We are a small volunteer organization so it was extremely important that the administration be cost effective.
MCF have provided us with sound financial advice and have administrated the scholarship on our behalf.
MCF have provided security for the philanthropists who have donated funds to the scholarship knowing that we are part of Melbourne Community Foundation and that they are a tax exempt charitable entity.
In the future we hope to be self supporting through the investment of our funds and continue to be able to award a travel scholarship every second year.
Why did it take me 20 years to start the process? Why was it so difficult to decide what to do?
Well, it had to be right – it had to be progressive – it had to be multifaceted – it had to be congruent with my memories of my parents and it had to move with the times.
So I did what I always do – talked to others who had embarked on similar journeys. Those I spoke with, were generous with their time, ideas and positively inspirational.
This in turn led me to MCF – to explore the territory – to find how they could help me articulate this project that meant so much to me.
I knew I was in the right place. People listened – they got what I was talking about. Ideas could be worked up – community links made – conversations started and plans creatively put into practice. There was initiative and accountability.
The things that appealed were that I could start in a small way and identify many strands of importance. MCF has a broad network and breadth of experience, so opportunities could be brought to my attention that I may never have thought of and I could also make small contributions to big projects and make a difference.
My father’s determination to give back to a community that enabled him to start his life all over again has propelled me to continue this initiative.
So I have made a beginning and here it is:
“The Herbert and Inge Littauer Fund of Melbourne Community Foundation would like to support an existing or prospective RMIT University student of refugee background to undertake nursing studies at either the TAFE or undergraduate level.
The Herbert and Inge Littauer Nursing Scholarship is offered in memory of Herbert and Inge Littauer who arrived in Australia as refugees from Nazi Germany in 1938-39 and began new lives. The opportunity to study Nursing gave Inge Littauer the incentive to learn English, gain a recognised qualification and in turn contribute in practical ways to her community. Inge Littauer was an intelligent woman who demonstrated courage and determination. She paved new ways in her own life and would want others to have similar opportunities.”
Holding Redlich is a mid-sized law firm with offices in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The Social Justice Fund was established as an MCF sub-fund in 2006.
Around one third of staff and salaried partners contribute regularly through payroll deductions which are matched by the firm. Staff contributions are distributed to community projects assisting disadvantaged youth in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney twice a year, while the partners’ contributions remain in the Fund with earnings also going to support the projects.
The Fund has made donations totalling $100,000 since 2006 with support currently going to the following organisations.
Brisbane Youth Services, which focuses on homeless or at-risk young people on the streets in the inner-city area, particularly those harming themselves and others through drug and alcohol use and dependency, prostitution, violence and other offending behaviours.
Through the Ardoch Youth Foundation we assist the Southern Teaching Unit, which provides 15 weeks of intensive support and education for students who are experiencing serious social, emotional, behavioural and/or educational difficulties, with the aim of reintegrating them into formal education.
Don Bosco House in Sydney, a project of Father Chris Riley’s Youth Off the Streets, provides crisis and short-term accommodation for homeless adolescents aged 15-18 years old. A large old house in Marrickville, the refuge provides support, accommodation and basic human needs such as food, clothing, safety, hygiene, access to health care and referrals to other services.
These projects were selected after a firm-wide survey identified disadvantaged young people as the cause employees wished to support. A committee with members in each state then selected the recipient organisations, with advice from MCF. The committee also reviews the organisations and has shifted the funding a couple of times, although the aim is to support a project consistently so as to provide certainty and encourage the development of a relationship with the firm.
Connections have been built with the projects in a number of ways. In Brisbane, Holding Redlich lawyers have provided pro bono legal services for Brisbane Youth Services and also staff a regular Homeless People’s Legal Clinic located at BYS. Donations have provided equipment and other resources for the Young Parents Group and have furnished units providing accommodation for homeless young families.
In Melbourne staff attend lunches with the young people at the Southern Teaching Unit and have been present to recognise the achievements of each group at their graduation. Donations have been used for a new fridge and dishwasher, art materials and, for one group, a trip to Sydney.
In Sydney, staff have visited Don Bosco House and have also hosted a presentation at the office to give everyone an opportunity to hear more about the work of Youth Off The Streets. Donations have helped to establish an incentive scheme to encourage young people to overcome their difficulties by engaging with caseworkers, attending educational or drug and alcohol programs, and working towards achieving stable accommodation.
Clemenger established the Clemenger Staff Fund in order to enable the employees and companies who make up the Clemenger Group to give something back to the community.
As the largest marketing and communications group of companies in Australia and New Zealand, we operate across the full marketing services spectrum, with specialist companies offering clients best-of-category expertise in each discipline.
It is very important for the whole Group, that our community support program is strategic, well-researched and allows our staff to engage at many levels. We are looking to align our funding support with other existing Clemenger Group community support activities (pro-bono service provision, staff volunteering, etc) and where appropriate to identify opportunities to align funding support with the key client industries and sectors.
The National Community Foundation provided the best vehicle for us to do this. With the national focus, they can support our staff in all States with grantmaking expertise and research. At a management and reporting level, we can manage our relationship efficiently and professionally.
Clemenger Group made the initial donation to open the sub-fund and will match all employee donations dollar for dollar. Staff contributions are voluntary and we are using payroll deductions on a pre-tax basis to allow staff to receive the tax deduction immediately.
Staff contributions will be distributed twice a year, while Clemenger Group’s direct contributions will remain in the sub-fund in order to build future investment earnings which will also be available for distribution. We were very attracted to the endowment model – building something of real and lasting value, while also supporting and benefitting community on an annual basis.
Funding priorities will be determined by staff committees in each State, with representation from all Clemenger Group companies. These committees will consider staff preferences and determine funding priorities as well as identify and select projects and organisations which we want to support.
The parents of Isabella De Rose have set up a charity fund in the hope of raising money for research into the rare brain tumour that killed their six-year-old daughter.
The Towards a Just Society Fund (TJSF) is a small
philanthropic organisation operating as a sub-fund of the Melbourne
Community Foundation. The fund’s general aim is to:
“assist in the reduction of current injustices
affecting particular groups and individuals in Australian society and/or
to increase the capacity of such people to overcome any disadvantages,
discrimination or injustices through their own efforts."
Since inception in 2003, TJSF has distributed grants with a total value in excess of $900,000.
Currently, TJSF is giving priority to projects that
support an increase in Aboriginal participation in education and improve
Aboriginal educational outcomes.
How one family chose to commemorate the life of their beautiful 16-year-old.
Alice Sloan by Sue Sloan, Alice's aunt
Alice Victoria Sloan was born on the first day of winter 1989. On the last day of winter 2005, she lost her life at the beautiful and exciting age of 16. Alice was on a greatly anticipated school outdoor education trip with much loved friends when a tree fell on the tent that she was sharing and her life was taken instantly. Inspired by the way Alice lived her life with love, passion and enthusiasm, Alice's family established a sub-fund in her name under the guidance, support and direction of MCF. This fund was established in December 2005. The aim is to provide young people from all walks of life with opportunities similar to those Alice passionately pursued, and so assist their development during formative years.
EastWeb is a sub-fund of the Melbourne Community Foundation. We are a group of committed young people who believe that by encouraging community capacity and self-determination through developing community driven, grassroots projects, we can all help to overcome disadvantage.
We work with the Indigenous, Asylum Seeker and Refugee communities in
Victoria, whose experiences of marginalisation and discrimination affect their ability to fully participate in the community. We are committed to working collaboratively with communities in a way that fosters equality, understanding and opportunities.
Shortly after the establishment of the Rod and Pamela Wells Community Fund in September 2002, over a twelve day period, Pamela Wells lost her husband, her father died and her finances suffered a severe setback. She is sure she survived this due to the very loving, stable and fortunate life she enjoyed as a child, the wise advice and high principles with which her parents had guided her family, and her belief that anything can be survived if you have faith in your own abilities and strengths. After these events, Pamela was even more committed to their charitable fund in order to ensure that something positive would result from this gloomy period in her life.
In establishing the fund, Pamela and Rod determined that the money they could put into a charitable fund needed to be safe from manipulation, and so chose the Melbourne Community Foundation. They also thought it would be satisfying to establish the fund during their lifetime so that they could see the results their donations achieved, rather than leaving a bequest.
At the outset, their aims were fairly straightforward - they wanted to give to those people or organisations that need financial support, with a focus on children, particularly those from the Goulburn region of Victoria, who didn't have a stable family life.
They also wanted to set up something that, since they had no children, they would be remembered by. However, when they thought about this more deeply, the reasons were a little more complex. Pamela recognized that both she and her husband had lived privileged lives, being encouraged by their parents to remain at school, pursue tertiary education and become actively involved in satisfying careers. They were clear they wanted to see others benefit as a result of their good fortune.
Since its establishment Melbourne Community Foundation has distributed a number of grants from the Rod & Pam Wells Community Fund. These include the Royal Flying Doctor Service and the Goulburn Valley Community Fund, which will use the money for children and families in the City of Greater Shepparton.
"To create opportunities for young people to reach their potential, where such potential is hampered due to disadvantage or inequality"
The Anna Wearne Fund joined Melbourne Community Foundation in 1997 in memory of 23-year-old Anna Wearne who tragically died in a car accident. A small group of Anna's close friends and family joined together to encapsulate Anna's spirit into the aims and objectives that would shape this fund.
Fundraising began at Anna's funeral with people donating around $200 to support our aim, but it was mutual efforts from a committed advisory committee that raised sufficient funds to enable Anna's friends to request MCF to make distributions to the projects they sought to support.
It was never envisaged that the fund would ever financially compete with the larger charities and foundations, nor does it wish to. The Anna Wearne Fund fills a unique niche in the community. However, in spite of not having a great deal of money, MCF through the Anna Wearne Fund has distributed over 100 different grants to a variety of charitable organizations. These include awards to Swinburne University to support the efforts of young people who have dropped out of mainstream education but return to gain a year 10 certificate, ongoing support to young children of the Carlton Housing Commission flats to provide after school and holiday activities and funding to provide music tuition for Tolly, an 11-year-old Indigenous guitarist from Deniliquin. Without support from MCF, Tolly would not have been able to continue his lessons. Learning and playing music helps give him confidence, raise his self- esteem and help with his literacy skills.
As a friend and advisory committee member said; "Our dear friend Anna gave us the inspiration to start this fund. We are often surprised at the diversity and number of requests for funding received. Unfortunately we cannot fund them all however, our small contributions continue to make a big difference for young people".
On Tuesday evening in Perth, the Governor of WA and the Premier of WA addressed an audience of over 250 at the Good Giving – Good Impact event encouraging more giving in Western Australia. At the event one of our sub-funds Impact 100 WA was launched by the Chair of their Advisory Committee, Simon Bedbrook. 
Aunty Phil
How one family chose to commemorate the life of their beautiful 16-year-old.