The Anne Walsh Fund
Fund founder Anne Walsh and her partner, the late B.J. (Bo) Sibold, shared a strong desire to give back to their community for the greater good. This vision propelled their early discussions that eventually generated the momentum behind the creation of the Stratford and Perth County Community Foundation in 2004.
Raised in the small community of Kinkora and now a long-time resident of Stratford , Anne never lost the community mindedness she absorbed from her father, the late Joseph Walsh, who was always very active in public service. Anne’s career in banking made her an an excellent recruit for the founding Board of the new community Foundation where she gained a deeper understanding of the potential for supporting the community. Her friendship with Lorna Somers, co-author of the book Planned Giving for Canadians, has strengthened Anne's conviction.
Anne sits on the Foundation’s Grant Committee and continues to be inspired by the positive impacts on the people and charitable organizations that result from Foundation grants to support important charitable work in Perth County. Anne expresses great pleasure in seeing the fruits of the funding provided to worthwhile projects. For example, Anne recalls a grant provided to the fledgling St. Marys Storytelling Festival that was among the Foundation’s first five contributions to local charities in 2004. This initial seed money continues to bear fruit because the Festival has grown to encompass a dynamic annual event in the spring and a year-round storytelling schedule.
The Anne Walsh Fund has been established as an unrestricted donor advised fund. Although she is partial to children and youth in order to help build better citizens for tomorrow, Anne also has interests in music and the arts. She believes that the unrestricted nature of the fund gives the flexibility necessary to meet the broad and constantly evolving needs of the community.
Beyond the direct support to projects that matter in our community, Anne hopes that one of the other fruits of her fund will be encouragement of others to follow her example of expressing gratitude for the many blessings that citizens receive from their community. Anne places high importance on helping others and giving back to the community on an ongoing basis through the Community Foundation’s model of permanently endowed funds that support the worthwhile work of charitable organizations in Perth County.