Baker Street Women's Club has donated $25,000 to Community Foundation Grey Bruce to create a permanent endowed fund that will provide an annual donation to the Residential Hospice of Grey Bruce and the Owen Sound Regional Hospital Foundation in perpetuity.

The Community Foundation Grey Bruce will match this generous donation with an additional $10,000 from its Matched Funding Program, which matches fifty cents on every dollar for new and existing funds up to $10,000 per fund. It is fitting that the Matched Funding Program was created from a generous donation from the Estate of the late Betty McKay, a founder of the Baker Street Women's Club. A grassroots local organization with nearly 120 paid members, the Club has been faithfully playing cards together for more than 30 years in Owen Sound, Ontario.

"The Baker St. Women's Club is very fortunate and pleased to be able to financially support local agencies through Community Foundation Grey Bruce" said Mary Jobe, founding member of the Club.

"This donation exemplifies the power of collective efforts. For thirty years, the Baker's Street Women's Club has offered friendship and camaraderie. Through slow, steady saving and the power of community, they are able to make this incredible gesture of generosity that will be their Club's legacy" said Aly Boltman, Executive Director of Community Foundation Grey Bruce.

"We are so pleased to see the Baker Street Women's Club establish this endowment in support of the Hospice and Hospital," said Doug Grahlman, Past Chair of the Owen Sound Regional Hospital Foundation. "Their gift will touch literally thousands of lives through better medical and end-of-life care for years to come."

"The Residential Hospice of Grey Bruce is grateful to be a beneficiary of the generosity of the Baker Street Women's Club," said Executive Director Scott Lovell. "It is through support like this that we are able to continue offering expert, compassionate end-of-life care to patients across Grey and Bruce. This endowment will have a tremendous impact on our organization's sustainability. We're proud to share this gift with our partners at Grey Bruce Health Services."

Community Foundation Grey Bruce is a public charity and grant-making organization serving charities and not-for-profit organizations in Grey and Bruce Counties. The Foundation generates long-term sustainable resources through pooled donations that create permanent, endowed funds. The earned revenue from the professionally managed funds is granted to qualified not-for-profit organizations throughout Grey Bruce, supporting the widest range of organizations and initiatives possible through community giving.

It is anticipated that the Foundation will grant upwards of $600,000 in 2015, its largest distribution in its 20-year history.