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1954 to 1963: Hamilton is Ontario’s First Community Foundation

The seeds of today’s Hamilton Community Foundation were sown in 1954 by a small group of people who created it based on a model they had seen in Winnipeg – Canada’s first community foundation. They saw it as a new way to give back to the city they loved.

One of the founding board members in 1954 was James V. Young, whose leadership launched three generations of support for Hamilton through HCF. James’s son Bill and his wife Joyce made a landmark gift to HCF in 2000. One of the largest charitable donations in Canada at the time, it transformed the Foundation’s granting, leadership and ability to meet Hamilton’s greatest needs.

Today, James’ grandson Bill Young Jr. continues to encourage and support the Foundation in finding new ways to use its assets in service to our community, most notably through impact investing and other innovative social finance initiatives.

The Young legacy is just one example of the commitment Hamilton families feel through the generations to their community and its future. Hamilton may change over the decades, but Hamiltonians remain steadfast in caring about their city and each other.