Barb and Grant Gustafson (right) recently made a donation to SHARE using the interest earned on an investment donation they made 20 years ago. (submitted photo/PAACF)

By paNOW Staff

Millennium Fund

Millennium Fund investment paying off for local charities

Feb 9, 2020 | 12:00 PM

Donations invested 20 years ago through the Prince Albert and Area Community Foundation (PAACF) are now paying off.

The Millennium Fund was created when the PAACF was just starting. It offered residents like Barb and Grant Gustafson an opportunity to take out no-interest loans they could then donate to the foundation.

“We were among the first people to get involved and, you know, back then lots of us didn’t have a bunch of money,” Grant Gustafson said. “We were paying mortgages and had three kids at home, so being able to borrow money interest free allowed us to get the fund going.”

The earnings on the initial donation recently allowed the Gustafsons to gift $2,000 to SHARE – a local charity that offers residential and vocational programs for people with long-term mental health issues. It’s also where Gustafson has worked for the last 28 years.

“We (SHARE) have been recipients of grants through the foundation over the years,” Gustafson said. “The big trailer people see us haul our stuff with came from the foundation… they’ve helped out with furnishings at our residence and some other programs we’ve had through the years and that’s from the general fund and the connections that fund has. So, it’s not just the millennium fund, it’s the whole idea they (PAACF) have money invested and every year money comes off of that for 10 or 15 projects in the community.”

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Since the Millenium Fund only grants out payouts that are interest earned and since interest rates haven’t been high for some time, PAACF executive director Marilyn Peterson said it’s great to finally see organizations reaping the rewards of the fund.

“It’s nice to see this is finally happening because many times people will say, ‘Well I donated but it wasn’t that much’ or even now they’ll say, ‘Well I could donate but not that much, so it will probably never do any good in the end’ but it certainly does,” Peterson said. “It may not tomorrow or next week, but it does.”

Family funds that allow individuals to choose where future earnings will be donated are available through the PAACF for a minimum investment of $10,000. Peterson said other donations are welcomed for the general fund which is distributed to a variety of local charities each year.

“We’ve had people invest money with us looking towards scholarships and once again the capital stays there and the interest earned is paid out as a scholarship,” Peterson said. “So there are many different ways of investing and different amounts that can be invested for different purposes.”

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panews@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @princealbertnow