Conservation Foundation thanks donors, presents awards
Essex Region – The Essex Region Conservation Foundation hosted its Virtual Annual General Meeting on March 24, thanking its many donors and recognizing two award recipients.
The award for Outstanding Corporate Contribution was presented to Hicks, MacPherson, Iatonna & Driedger LLP Accountants (HMID). HMID and its predecessor firms began donating audit services in 1978. In the last decade alone, the value of the services donated to the Essex Region Conservation Foundation is estimated to be over $32,000.
“When you consider the savings that these donated services have resulted in over more than four decades, the impact is incredible,” said Claire Wales, the Foundation’s newly elected President. “The savings realized by the generous donation of audit services from HMID LLP allows those funds to be reinvested into conservation projects and programs in the Windsor-Essex Region.”
The Solcz Family Foundation was awarded the Clifford Hatch Conservation Award. With a focus on providing opportunities for children and youth, the Solcz Family Foundation committed to Connect Kids with Nature for a three year period. Thanks to this gift, in 2019 more than 800 elementary school students planted over 2500 trees at a former farm field in Leamington. Additionally, more than 100 secondary school students gained an enhanced level of environmental education in tree planting, restoration and leadership skills.
While Covid-19 gathering restrictions impacted the planting scheduled for 2020, this year, efforts will be doubled. Once completed, thanks to the Solcz Family Foundation, more than 2500 students will have been connected to nature and provided with important leadership opportunities, while 32 acres of former farmland will have been transformed into the Solcz Family Foundation Forest.
“Connecting kids to nature is one of the most important gifts that can be given to young people,” Wales added. “We are so grateful to the Solcz Family Foundation for making this profound impact.”
Since 1978, the Essex Region Conservation Foundation has been enriching and sustaining the Windsor-Essex-Pelee Island region as the Place for Life.
