Community foundation launched

THE newly established Kingston Community Foundation unveiled its vision to the seaside community on Friday night at the Old Wool Store with around 100 people heading to the launch to learn just what the foundation was looking to achieve.

Kingston Community Foundation secretary Des Murray has extensive experience working with similar set ups in Bordertown and he has been part of a dedicated band of now board members working to establish this more sustainable way of fundraising for community projects.

The foundation has been set up as a registered Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) charity and has earmarked three local beneficiaries, which also must be DGRs, – Kingston Soldiers Memorial Hospital, Kingston Community School and Kingston SE Branch of the National Trust of South Australia.

One of the major selling points of the community foundation is keeping the money locally and the local community having a huge say on where the money is spent.

“The hard work now to establish the foundation will pay off well into the future,” Des said. “Locals will decide what the foundation does, they are in the best place to decide what needs to be done.

“Setting up community foundations also sends a message we are going to be there for the long haul.”

Basically the foundation is now in the process of setting up its capital base so it can generate income in perpetuity.

The foundation is also in the throes of purchasing the Old Wool Store, which will be leased to a restauranteur, reopening the once popular eatery that has sadly been closed for the past six years since the deaths of much loved owners Don and Senny McInnes in 2019.

Setting up the community foundation has been a work in progress since April last year and there is now a 10-person board of directors.

The foundation has already attracted $105,000 as it heads to its target of $800,000.

“We have several major donors in the wings that have expressed interest in the concept and we believe that will achieve at least three quarters of the target,” Des said. “Why we are so confident is because I have had the experience in Bordertown and those foundations are doing very well.”

While the focus is the initial community foundation, Des has flagged the eventually establishment of a secondary foundation that is not a DGR, opening up the possibility of giving donations to other community groups.

A former accountant, Des spent a lot of his career working in the estate planning space and people often asked how they could leave money to the community – community foundations are the perfect platform for those kind of would-be benefactors.

Head to kingstoncommunityfoundation.au for more details on how you can get involved in the Kingston Community Foundation.