Message from the Chair
Message from the Gwaii Trust Chair, Ken Rea
(13thAnnualGeneralReport)
Beyond Barriers
I would like to say “Howaa”, to all of you who are taking the time to read this, the 13th Annual General Report of the Gwaii Trust Society. For those of you familiar with our history you can appreciate the long and sometimes challenging road that we traveled to get here. This past year the Trust has once again had the privilege of partnering on some great community projects. The revitalization of the Old Massett Community Centre, the innovative Port Multiplex building, the Skidegate Haida Immersion project, and the Island Food bank are just a few of this past years successful applicants. During the 2008/2009 fiscal year the Gwaii Trust funded more than 60 community projects and awarded literally hundreds of individual grants.
While we would like to believe that the rockiest of our challenges is firmly behind us, this current financial market has shown us that this may not be the case. While the Trust’s Investments have not suffered the losses of many likeminded funds, caution is still the watch word for the coming months, and possibly years. Investments once producing double-digit returns now return a much more modest stipend. This all coming at a time when the communities need assisting the most. While the Trust Board and its group of professional advisors believe that our conservative investment strategy will guide us safely through this period, and well into the future, it is clearly a new era; one of partnerships, prudence, and openness to new ideas coupled with old fashioned ethics.
It has been a privilege to serve as the Chair of the Gwaii Trust Board of Directors for the past three years, and I have appreciated the trust the communities have placed in me while guiding the Gwaii Trust through these interesting and challenging times. I wish the remaining Board and incoming Chair every success in their future endeavors.