The Weston Family Foundation (formerly The W. Garfield Weston Foundation) is a Canadian
charitable foundation
A foundation (also a charitable foundation) is a category of nonprofit organization or charitable trust that typically provides funding and support for other charitable organizations through grants, but may also engage directly in charitable act ...
committed to making grants in Canada for the benefit of Canadians.
At the end of 2016, the foundation had over $324 million in assets.
History
The foundation was created in the 1950s with donations from
W. Garfield Weston
Willard Garfield Weston (26 February 189822 October 1978) was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist who was a member of the prominent Weston family. He led George Weston Limited and its various subsidiaries and associated companies, includin ...
(1898–1978), his wife Reta Lila Howard (1897–1967) and all nine of their children – Miriam Burnett, Grainger Weston, Nancy Baron, Barbara Mitchell,
Garry Weston
Garfield Howard "Garry" Weston CBE (April 28, 1927 – February 15, 2002) was a Canadian businessman who was active in the United Kingdom.
Early life
Born in Toronto, Ontario, he was the son of Reta (née Howard) and W. Garfield Weston, owner ...
, Wendy Rebanks, Gretchen Bauta, Camilla Dalglish and
Galen Weston. The foundation was originally named after W. Garfield Weston, who established
bakery and other successful enterprises throughout Canada and in other parts of the world. Today, these businesses include
George Weston Limited and the
Loblaw group of food retailing, processing and distribution companies.
The foundation is supported by an endowment from the extended
Weston family
The Weston family is a prominent Canadian-origin family of businesspeople with global interests primarily in food and clothing ventures. The family operations began with the purchase of a bakery in 1884 by American-born Canadian George Weston in ...
, with the majority of the funds being directed to specific organizations in the fields of
education and the
environment
Environment most often refers to:
__NOTOC__
* Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally
* Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...
. In 2012, the foundation initiated the Weston Family Parks Challenge, announcing $5 million in funding over 3 years, to enhance
Toronto's green spaces while encouraging private-public partnerships for their long-term sustainability. The foundation also supports the Weston Youth Innovation Award at the
Ontario Science Centre, with past recipients including Ethan Chan,
Adam Noble and
Alex Deans
Alexander Deans (born May 1, 1997) is a Canadian-British inventor. At age 12, he created the "iAid", a navigation device for the blind which won the 2013 Canada-Wide Science Fair in the intermediate category and several awards at the 2014 Intel ...
.
In addition to its principal ongoing commitments, the foundation makes a number of trustee-initiated
grants
Grant or Grants may refer to:
Places
*Grant County (disambiguation)
Australia
* Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia
United Kingdom
*Castle Grant
United States
* Grant, Alabama
*Grant, Inyo County, C ...
each year.
See also
*
Garfield Weston Foundation (based in the United Kingdom)
*
George Weston
George Weston (March 23, 1864 – April 6, 1924) was an American-born Canadian businessman and the founder of George Weston Limited. He became Toronto's biggest baker with Canada's largest bread factory. Weston began his career at the age of 12 a ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weston Family Foundation
Foundations based in Canada
Foundation