I wanted to reach out to thank you for your recent donations to Red River College. The response from Heritage Group members this year has been remarkable and is a positive note in a not-so-positive year.

It’s been nearly a year since we’ve been able to gather for regular meetings, to catch up over coffee, and look forward to the next social outing together as a group, but this has not stopped your generous support of students. I’m thrilled to report that as a group, you have contributed more than $7,500 in 2020 – far more than any other year since I first became involved with the Heritage Group in 2017. This is something to celebrate and be proud of.

The majority of these donations were contributed to the Heritage Group Scholarship which has grown significantly and will be able to support even more students. The endowment fund has grown to over $125,000 and the interest generated, along with donations, will be disbursed to students this Spring. Your gifts will have double the impact, as Manitoba Scholarships and Bursaries Initiative (MSBI) will be matching all donations and be provided to students as bursaries. I will provide further updates after the recipients have been chosen and the year-end financial report is ready. 

One donation to highlight came from Howard R. Engel, who retired from Library Services in January 2019. Howard has been a long-time supporter of the Library and information Technology Program Endowment at the College and this year Howard generously provided $1,000, which will be matched with MSBI, to support two students with financial need within that program. Many thanks to Howard for his contribution!

In a year where many students are struggling to find financial stability and face uncertainty about the future, know that your support will have a direct impact and make a difference.

I hope you are all doing well and staying safe, and I look forward to seeing you before the end of this year.

I’ve attached one thank you (above) that we received in June 2019, but we did not get any from award recipients last year. In summer 2020 we updated to an online system so it is much easier for students to provide thank you notes, and we are certainly receiving double the amount now! So I am hopeful that we will hear from a few Heritage Group award recipients this coming year.

Cheers!

Laura Payne
Development Coordinator, Strategic Development