The Lampe Foundation celebrates 30 years
“Lighting the way to a better future”
The Lampe Foundation, a local scholarship foundation that supports students in the Eastern Townships, is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The community-based nonprofit was established in 1993 as a philanthropic arm of the local chapter of the Canadian Foundation of University Women (CFUW), and has evolved from several local scholarships, to providing more than $45,000 a year to local students, with a total now of over 45 awards.
In 1993, the Lampe Foundation, formerly known as the ‘Fondation des bourses d’études des femmes diplômées d’université: région de Sherbrooke’ became a charitable foundation. As the non-profit connected to the local CFUW chapter, the Lampe Foundation works closely to support not only university women, but students from high school, cegep, and university programs fund their studies. The Lampe Foundation’s mission is to support the continuation of education for men and women in the Eastern Townships, as well as encourage recipients to remain in the area to support their community. Of the one hundred CFUW chapters across Canada, the Lampe Foundation has successfully made them one of the top five chapters in Canada that give out annually, putting them in line with chapters in Toronto, Victoria, Vancouver and St. Johns, quite the feat for a smaller, rural community.
After 30 years of growth, the Lampe Foundation now has a portfolio of over $1 million, funded from individual donations and groups. Former copresident and current council member Carol Mooney explained that non-profit grew enormously from a donation of $300,000 from the Sherbrooke Hospital Foundation when it retired in 2007, effectively tripling what the Lampe Foundation had and allowing it to start many health-focused awards, as well as enabling several yearly renewals of its scholarships. The Lampe Foundation has two companies that manage its funds, allowing the foundation to have continuous growth and effectively endow many of the scholarships they give out to students. “It’s really grown… to become a significant contributor to our community,” Mooney said.
Katie Lowry, one of the newest and youngest members of The Lampe Foundation discussed the organization’s goals moving forward. She was introduced to the Lampe Foundation through her work as executive director at Phelps Helps, and recognized the impact the scholarship foundation had on students’ lives. Her goals for the foundation and its future include increased marketing and promotion to encourage visibility. “I think just getting the word out there and getting more applicants, [which] ultimately incentivizes and encourages more people to pursue education”, she said. Lowry also recognized the need for change within the foundation. “The landscape of careers has evolved and it continues to change, so it’s important that our scholarships and opportunities reflect the new landscape of careers,” she said, while praising the work the members have done and continue to do to adapt to changing times.
The non-profit organization focuses on helping students from all backgrounds pursue an education and encourages recipients to stay in the area to contribute to the Eastern Townships community. Makayla Chamberlain, a recipient of funds from the Lampe Foundation in 2020, 2021, and 2022 spoke to the importance of the foundation and how it supported her throughout her studies. As a nursing student at Champlain College at the time of her awards, she was able to focus solely on her studies because of the financial support from the Lampe Foundation. “It helped me concentrate on just academics, the program that I was in required all of my attention,” she said, “because of these bursaries I was able to focus just on academics and not have to work during my school months… The Lampe
Foundation helped me in lifting a huge stress off of my shoulders.” As a continuous recipient, Chamberlain encouraged all other students who may be in similar situations as her to “just apply.”“try,” she said, “At first I applied for the first award while in a tough program… just try, just take an hour to fill out these questions and get it done, because it really does help… just try and see what happens, it really does go a long way.”
As the foundation looks to the future, current president Heather Bowman explained that increased visibility is one of its biggest priorities. Indeed, the impact that the foundation has can only increase relative to the number of student applicants applying for aid and the donations they receive, as well as the volunteer time they acquire as a fully volunteerrun operation. “I really believe in what we’re doing and how we can help,” Bowman concluded.