CFPD Established Funds
On this page you will find a great variety of existing funds established with the Community Foundation of Portage and District by generous community members who share a common goal of wanting to improve the lives of people living in Portage la Prairie and District. Donating to one of these funds means that your gift will be pooled with all of the other gifts, invested together to ensure the highest possible rate of return, and then the investment earnings will be disbursed annually to the area identified by the donor who established the fund. In the case of the Smart and Caring Community (Undesignated) Fund, the CFPD Grants Committee will decide where the earnings can be used most effectively each year, in the form of ‘Community Grants’.
Highlighted Fund
Local citizens, Dr. Brett Finney and Dana Geisel, have established a designated fund in their name with the Community Foundation of Portage & District—the Geisel-Finney Future Fund, into which they have so generously donated $100,000. For Brett and Dana, growing up on small Manitoba family farms instilled in them an understanding of community and the importance of taking care of each other. This sentiment has only grown over the past 20 years that the family has called Portage home.
With Brett being a local physician and Dana the Mental Health Facilitator for the Portage la Prairie School Division, they both feel that education was the driver behind so many privileges in their lives—the ability to pursue fulfilling careers, the freedom to choose where and how they raised their family, and the opportunity to give back to their community. It is their hope that the Geisel-Finney Future Fund helps other families experience the benefits of both education and a supportive community, something that has had a tremendous impact on their own lives.
The CFPD is honoured that Brett and Dana chose them to help facilitate this process, and every year will disburse a grant to a very deserving individual who intends to pursue post-secondary education in Portage la Prairie, but without the grant would otherwise not be able to do so. The successful recipient does not have to originally be from the area, nor do they have to be already accepted into school, as the fund is intended to be as barrier-free as possible. This generosity of Dr. Brett Finney and Dana Geisel exemplifies CFPD’s motto: For community, By community, Forever!
