The WindsorEssex Community Foundation is celebrating 40 Years of Inspiring Philanthropy throughout 2023, with a broad range of community investments. This year, we are investing in community to create projects that will invest in lasting change, reflect who we are as the people of Windsor and Essex County, value our sense of place and culture, and honour both our local history and our future as it unfolds. We are privileged to be celebrating our 40th Anniversary with phenomenal community partners.
On November 8, 2023, WindsorEssex Community Foundation and the Town of LaSalle, LaSalle Community Fund, and members of the community gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking for a new waterfront legacy project made possible through an investment from the WindsorEssex Community Foundation in celebration of our 40 Years of Inspiring Philanthropy.
The new LaSalle Event Centre Entrance Garden will provide an inspiring new space in which community members can gather, rest and enjoy a beautiful community space connected to the waterfront development in LaSalle.
The garden features native foliage and plants to attract pollinators, new lighting and seating options, and adds a stunning decorative element to the new LaSalle Event Centre at the LaSalle Landing Waterfront, a space that hosts many community events and can be enjoyed by residents and visitors alike.
Project partners LaSalle Community Fund matched the initial investment from WindsorEssex Community Foundation through an extensive fundraising campaign, helping to bring this legacy project to the community. To spread the word and gather enthusiasm about the project throughout the community, LaSalle Community Fund worked with the LaSalle Ambassador Horticultural Society, who also provided expert input on the best options to create a flourishing space full of plants that are native to the region. With construction now in progress to lay the essential groundwork for the space, the garden will be ready for the community to enjoy in Spring of 2024.
“We are proud to be a part of the WindsorEssex Community Foundation’s 40th Anniversary celebrations. This garden is a wonderful legacy to the WindsorEssex Community Foundation. I would also like to sincerely thank the LaSalle Community Fund for making this garden their initial project when they launched their organization, and to the LaSalle Ambassador Horticultural Club for helping to create awareness and raise funds for this project. This really is an example of our community pulling together for the betterment of all of us,” said Mayor Crystal Meloche.
The investment is one of several 40th Anniversary Community Legacy Projects being supported by the WECF as they celebrate 40 years of Community Supporting Community in 2023. The WECF is marking this milestone year throughout Windsor and Essex County by creating lasting legacies, working with local municipal and community partners to create projects that will invest in lasting change in Windsor and Essex County, value a sense of place and culture, and honour both local history and the future as it unfolds.
“This year, we are investing in community to create projects that will invest in lasting change, reflect who we are as the people of Windsor and Essex County, value our sense of place and culture, and honour both our local history and our future as it unfolds,” says Lisa Kolody, Executive Director of the WindsorEssex Community Foundation. “We are privileged to be celebrating our 40th Anniversary with phenomenal community partners like the Town of LaSalle and the LaSalle Community Fund, who are helping us mark this milestone year by creating projects that help foster a sense of community throughout Windsor & Essex County, today and forever.”
Stay tuned for more exciting projects, to be unveiled over the coming weeks!
Thank you to our Project Partners for their generous support!
