Belonging and Quality of Life – Youth

The Doerr Family Youth Fund honours the memory of Tommy Doerr who passed away tragically in July 2022 after a long battle with addiction. This fund is designed specifically to support youth in the Columbia Valley.  Tommy’s parents (Sherry & Harvey) and brother Robert donated generously to the fund, alongside many friends and family members.Sherry and Harvey talk openly about Tommy’s addiction in the hopes of helping others walking this difficult path. Sherry spent many years volunteering with the Summit Youth Centre as the Board Chair, knowing this can be a safe space for youth in the valley.

“Through my involvement there, I know it’s so difficult to get funding sometimes for the ‘unfun’ stuff — to make sure there’s a telephone working, and someone’s there to open the door, and the lights are on,” explains Sherry. “Our intention with this fund is to make sure there’s always a youth centre, and to make sure there’s sustainability in youth programming throughout the Columbia Valley.”

This fund was established in 2002 by Dave and Donna Rae to provide a way for their family to make a lasting contribution to the community that they love.

Our Children’s Legacy Fund is a donor-advised fund (meaning that the donor makes annual grant recommendations which are approved by the CVCF Board). The whole Rae family participates in this process by reviewing applications to the CVCF’s Community Grants program and selecting projects for funding that are meaningful to them.

Over the years, Our Children’s Legacy Fund has supported a wide variety of projects — ranging from new snowmobiles for Columbia Valley Search & Rescue to upgrades to fire suppression systems for the Columbia Valley Arts Council facility at Pynelogs to a traumatic grief counselling program provided by the Hospice Society of the Columbia Valley.