Introducing the Evans Tree Fund for St. Thomas & Elgin County
Photo: Dan Arppe, Environmental Educator at the Jaffa Environmental Education Centre, joins Andrew Gunn and Maddie King of young & free press to celebrate the launch of the new ‘Evans Tree Fund’ for St. Thomas and Elgin County. The Fund will be managed through the Elgin St. Thomas Community Foundation.
Elgin – St. Thomas Community Foundation Launches the ‘Evans Tree Fund’ with a Gift to the Thames Valley District School Board to Enhance the Jaffa Environmental Education Centre
Supported by the Estate of Donna Vera Evans Bushell, the ‘Evans Tree Fund’ will boost tree-planting projects in Elgin County and St. Thomas in perpetuity
Members of our team at young & free press are serving currently as consultants on the Estate of Donna Vera Evans Bushell. We have worked extensively with the Elgin St. Thomas Community Foundation to support a series of wonderful community-building projects. In June 2020, the Foundation announced that the Estate had contributed $100,000 to establish the new ‘Evans Trees Fund’. Now, local charitable organizations (including schools) are invited to apply to the fund to support tree-planting initiatives.
The Foundation is launching the Evans Tree Fund with a gift of $1000 to the Jaffa Environmental Education Centre to enhance the on-site arboretum. Before her death, Donna Bushell established the arboretum to help educators at Jaffa teach students about trees, and this additional funding will allow staff members to plant more specimens and install new signs.
“We are excited to receive this support from the Evans Tree Fund through the Elgin St. Thomas Community Foundation,” stated Erin Mutch, Learning Coordinator for Environmental Education, Science and Experiential Learning at Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB). “Teaching students about trees is an important part of building interest in local environmental stewardship. We use the programming and resources at Jaffa to make this link tangible for students.”
“Donna Bushell loved trees,” notes Andrew Gunn, President of Andrew Gunn Consulting Inc. and owner & editor of young & free press, who has been working as one of the consultants for the Bushell Estate. “The Evans Tree Fund will provide funds to allow organizations in Elgin County and St. Thomas to plant more & more trees for years to come. This is one of the gifts from the Estate that will provide benefits to the community for decades, and perhaps even centuries, given the long life-span of many varieties of trees. We are thrilled to work with the Foundation and TVDSB to make this happen.”
“After the weather events we’ve seen this summer, everybody’s thinking about improving the environment,” said Terry Carroll, Executive Director of the Elgin St. Thomas Community Foundation. “Trees are an important part of addressing that concern, and we’re happy to work with Andrew, the estate executors and local charities on projects like the Jaffa Environmental Education Centre plantings.”
For more information on how to apply to the Evans Tree Fund, please contact:
Terry Carroll, Executive Director, Elgin St. Thomas Community Foundation
519.495.5194
Information regarding the Evans Tree Fund can be found here.
Elgin-St. Thomas Community Foundation
The Elgin - St. Thomas Community Foundation helps people to support local charities in the Elgin County and St. Thomas area in ways that are simple, convenient, and long-lasting. Through building and managing endowed funds and providing grants, the Foundation focusses on improving and enhancing our communities – the places where we all live, work, play, and raise our families. More information on the Foundation is available online at www.escf.ca
The Estate of Donna Bushell
Donna Vera Evans Bushell passed away November 9, 2019, in her hundredth year, the last of her family. Donna’s passion was to plant trees and reminisce about her ancestors and friends while her sister Doris Evans taught music as a church organist. The oldest sister, Thelma Joiner, taught elementary school around Aylmer for forty-five years and researched local North Yarmouth history. All three sisters shared a love of their heritage as descendants of the pioneer Westlake, Penhale and Gilbert families who settled along the North Edgeware Road in Yarmouth. Their collected historical papers will eventually be deposited in the Elgin County Archives. More than $2.5M has been allocated from the Estate to date in support of a series of exciting projects in Elgin County and St. Thomas, including the Track to the Future mural project, the establishment of the Evans Sisters’ Water Trail at Dalewood Conservation Area, and the forthcoming construction of the Evans Sisters’ Stage at Springwater Forest.
