Representatives from Big Brothers Big Sisters speak with an attendee at the Community Foundation of Southeastern Alberta's philanthropy trade show on Wednesday at the Cypress Centre.--NEWS PHOTO ANNA SMITH
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
The Community Foundation of Southeastern Alberta hosted its inaugural Philanthropy & Professional Advisors Tradeshow on Wednesday, featured networking opportunities for various community organizations and advisers within Medicine Hat.
The day was headlined by keynote speaker Joel Bray, who said the event was unlike any other he’s attended or spoken at.
“I’ve never been to an event that’s surrounded by a trade show on either side of it,” said Bray. “So to see charities and businesses and other organizations come together to create a networking event, plus the education component, for me, it was a no-brainer to be part of it.”
Bray is a highly respected financial planner and philanthropy adviser with nearly two decades of experience nationally for his work in intentional philanthropy, helping donors and professional advisers integrate meaningful, tax-efficient giving into personal, corporate and estate planning, said CFSEA.
The event was well attended, and Dani Bolduc, who was there on behalf of the Mustard Seed, said it allowed for people to be aware of the amount of important work happening within the city.
She expressed hope to see future events like this, both for residents already involved in the charity sphere and for those looking for the best way to contribute to the community.
“It’s really cool just to see all of the different partnerships, because we work with a lot of people here,” said Bolduc. “It’s cool to just see all of these different things, and you realize we’re all in this together. It’s all a big team.”
Maj. Corey Vincent with the Salvation Army echoed the sentiment, and added he was pleased to see so many of the people who work hard to make Medicine Hat such a remarkable place to live.
“You really don’t realize how much good that’s happening until you come to an event like this and you see everyone just pulling together and just doing a fantastic job making Medicine Hat a better place,” said Vincent.
“When a room like this is filled with people like this, it creates a spider-web effect,” said Bray. “So one person is going to learn something today, hopefully they’ll tell colleagues or family members or other people in the community, and hopefully this just starts to spiral and spread the message that there’s better ways of giving.”
