Our Donors
Donors play a significant role in the work done by the Foundation. It is their generosity and appreciation of their community that allows the Foundation to help charitable organizations to deliver their very valuable programs.

Here are a few stories about donors who have made the difference.

Norman Simon
Choosing who will inherit your estate when you die is an obvious choice for most people who have a spouse, children and grandchildren. Norman Simon was a bachelor and had no siblings. He worked all of his adult life for the Federal Government, spending most of his time in remote locations such as Resolute Bay and other points on the Arctic Circle. His hard work, diligent investing, and a lack of relatives left him with difficult decisions to make when he was diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Throughout his lifetime Norman had been generous to his favourite charities. He learned of new organizations from time to time which appeared to be doing good work but he was not sure he would live long enough to see if they were accomplishing their goals. Then Norman met with a member of the Vernon Foundation and learned that a local volunteer board would review community funding requests yearly, choosing which charitable organizations were most deserving and assisting in the funding of their goals.

Norman was impressed that The Foundation maintained actual gifts of money received, investing the same and paying out the income earned. By the terms of his Last Will and Testament, Norman Simon left a significant bequest to The Vernon Foundation because he was confident that year after year his hard work would continue to benefit people of his community.

Mr. George A. McMechan
In 1993 Mr. George McMechan established the Archibald McKellar MacMechan Language Proficiency Prize in honour of his late uncle Mr. Archibald McKellar MacMechan who had been a professor of English Literature at Dalhousie College in Halifax, Nova Scotia. During his 42 years of dedicated service, between 1890 and 1932, he helped promote a far more profound interest in the literature and language of our country.

To commemorate the dedication of his late uncle, Mr. George McMechan made a donation to the foundation to provide annual funding for the prize. Each year Grade 12 students in School District 22 are invited to submit an essay to the head of the English Department in their school. These are adjudicated locally by the school with the best going forward to the Final Level Adjudication Panel at the School District.

A single winner is selected each year to receive the financial award which may be used by the student for any purpose.

Robert McLean
Bob was one of three sons of the Mclean family of Vancouver, where he went to school and studied music.

He joined the Army in 1940 and went overseas with the Canadian Scottish regiment of Victoria B.C., serving in France and Holland until being wounded on April 6, 1945.

In 1970 he moved to Vernon with his mother to be closer to an older Brother who was living in Okanagan Landing. In the late 1980's, his mother and brother passed away, leaving Bob as the sole survivor of the family estate.

Bob was a bachelor and wanted to make sure he left his estate for a worthwhile purpose. He learned of the Vernon And District Foundation and was impressed with their ability to manage donations in perpetuity and with their flexibility in having him name the organizations who should receive the income on an annual basis.

As a result of Bob's foresight and generosity, his favourite charities have received over $280,000.00 since he died in 1992 and the original contribution of over $500,000.00 is still there and growing.