Equine Foundation of Canada Annual General Meeting - President's Report

April 22nd, 2023

The past year has again been a challenging one for the Equine Foundation of Canada. This is beginning to sound like a stuck record but fundraising has been an ongoing problem for the past few years, especially in Alberta due to the economic slowdown.

Since early 2020 fundraising was further complicated by the pandemic and all the various shutdowns and lock-downs which limited in-person. We did receive funds from Veterinary Simulator Industries, which I had solicited, and upon review of their financial position this month they may donate more. The relationship with VSI has been mutually beneficial, we have promoted their products and they have donated funds to us. The original owners sold the business in the fall of 2022. I met the new owner and renewed acquaintances with the manager in January when I traveled to Calgary and presented four of our prints to them as a thank you.

T he endowment that we granted to AOC in September 2021 bore fruit last fall and the first Equine Foundation of Canada/George F. Wade Memorial scholarship was presented. Unfortunately the original presentation date was postponed due to the devastating storm that hit the Maritime Provinces. None of the Wade family, myself nor Susan Nelson were available to attend on the replacement date. That was very disappointing, but a veterinary student was very happy to receive the scholarship. Also, the simulator horse approved for Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops was presented after a lengthy delay and Director Pat Crema was on hand for the presentation. We plan to contact the family of Morris Clarke to arrange a suitable memorial to him. The scholarships in Saskatoon and Calgary were presented by Candas Rolls and Les Burwash respectively. Thank you to both.

We are continuing to advertise in various horse magazines which has brought us name recognition, however the inquiries continue to be asking for funding rather than making donations.

We made changes to our advertisements in 2021 to include “Donations Welcome” which unfortunately did not attract any new funds in 2022. We are very grateful to Horse Journals for donating advertising free of charge, Canadian Morgan magazine and Saddle Up magazine for reduced rates because of our charitable status. We appreciate these benefits very much and have sent prints with engraved plates to them as a thank you. I have been sending reports/ articles to these magazines to keep horse people informed about the Equine Foundation of Canada. I also gave an off-the-cuff verbal report to the CMHA annual general meeting in Leduc in March of this year (2023).

It was with great sadness that we announced at last year’s annual meeting that Morris Clarke, our Manitoba Director, passed away October 1st, 2021. He has been greatly missed. We have another sad announcement this year, Peggy MacDonald passed away in January 2023 and Eldon Bienert in April 2023. They were founding board members when George Wade’s vision became reality over 40 years ago. They were very active and well-known in Morgan horse circles Canada-wide and in all things equine in Alberta. Eldon was the Past President of EFC and a tireless volunteer in his community, his province and his country, and they received many awards and honours for their volunteer work.

T he EFC board has been blessed to have a fantastic group of volunteers who have contributed considerable of their time to EFC. Susan Nelson deserves special mention for her 42 years of contribution to our board in her position as treasurer. Also her husband Gary has been the legal counsel for EFC from the birth of the foundation. Some good news is that Quebec Director Helen Belliard is rejoining the board after time off due to illness. Her daughter Kristin will be sitting in at meetings and helping Helen at home. Welcome Helen and Kristin.

T he Board will continue to review and discuss the future of the Equine Foundation going forward. A heartfelt “Thank You” to the officers, board members and promotion committee, for all their hard work and dedication not only this year but for many years, we could not do it without you.