Canadian beef industry leaders have established an endowment fund to support “the sustainable advancement and legacy of the Canadian beef industry.”
The Canadian Cattlemen’s Foundation will have three main focus areas within the beef sector: youth and leadership development, environmental sustainability, and research.
“If we want to see our industry thrive in the future we need to make sure that we support the next generation, have a healthy land base and the knowledge to be able to do it,” said chairman Bob Lowe, announcing the creation of the registered charity on Wednesday. “The foundation will be one of the tools in the tool box to ensure we achieve this.”
The initial focus for the foundation will be on building a fund to support the existing Cattlemen’s Young Leaders youth mentorship program.
“Although we have seen phenomenal support for this program we need to make sure there is a long term funding strategy in place to support it for years to come. The establishment of a permanent fund that earns interest, dividends and capital gains would do just that,” said Lowe.
With its investments managed by the Calgary Foundation, the CCF will accept gifts of cash, land, livestock, publicly listed securities, as well as bequests through life insurance policies and by will.
The board includes a pair of past-presidents of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association — Brad Wildemen and Stan Eby, as well as Lowe, Lynn Grant (vice-chair), Joe Gardner, Stan Carscallen, Scott Dickson, Annemarie Pedersen and Bob France.
The CCA, Canada Beef and the Canada Beef Breeds Council will be hosting a public launch on June 15th at the Canadian Cattlemen’s Foundation Golf Tournament at the HeatherGlen Golf Course east of Calgary (click here to register.)
Related:
- An Introduction to the Cattlemen’s Young Leaders Program
- The Role of Cattle Shows & Mentorship for the Young Rancher
