On Friday September 22, on the eve of our ECA event series with Edward Burtynsky, we received some great news – the CRA had officially granted Charitable Status to the Escarpment Corridor Alliance. This marks a very important milestone in our mission to protect the escarpment of Southern Georgian Bay. The work of the ECA is, by definition, expensive. We rely on a select group of professionals with expertise in natural heritage, environmental law, land use planning, government relations and marketing to name a few. Fundraising to meet these demands is challenging enough without charitable status and we owe a large debt of gratitude to the Small Change Fund for believing in our project, supporting our work and being able to give our donors a tax receipt over the past 15 months as our application was in process. The support of SCF has been critical to our rapid evolution as an organization and we look forward to continued partnership. Now, as a proud, standalone registered Canadian charitable organization, important new funding sources including public and private foundations and government grants are open to us. Of course, at the heart of our success will always be the grassroots support of individuals and families from across Southern Georgian Bay who, like us, say “Yes!” to a green escarpment forever!
