The former general manager of the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority is the new chair of the South Huron Community Foundation Board.
Tom Prout says community foundations raise and invest money and then use the interest from their investments to support community projects.
Prout says the South Huron Community Foundation is only about two years old and still works closely with the Grand Bend Community Foundation. That foundation currently has $2.5-million in the bank and gives about $100,000 a year back to the community.
Prout has previously been a chair of the Grand Bend Foundation and has now been elected for a two-year term with the new South Huron Foundation. He adds the South Huron Foundation will start giving money back to the community next year.
"The best example is in Winnipeg. It's one of the older community foundations in Canada and these are a Canadian-run government program. They give $27-million away every year to the community. The London Community Foundation gives away couple million dollars every year to the community," says Prout.
