from Rideau Valley Conservation Foundation
There’s never been a better time to support conservation efforts right here in your backyard, thanks to a generous matching pledge from Enbridge Gas. Between November 20 and Giving Tuesday on December 1, Enbridge will match up to $5,000 in donations to the Rideau Valley Conservation Foundation’s Steve Simmering Conservation Land Endowment Fund.
This gift will help the Foundation cover annual maintenance costs for more than 6,570 acres of natural lands across the watershed – costs like property taxes, fencing and signage. It’s mundane work, but it’s crucial to preserving these donated properties in perpetuity, as promised to the families who left them in the Foundation’s care.
If we’ve learned anything in 2020, it’s that protecting outdoor spaces matters. It matters for our physical and mental health, and for our sense of community.
But it also matters for our future: natural lands are key to fighting climate change and protecting us from natural disasters like floods and droughts. They provide thousands of dollars’ worth of environmental services like stormwater management and carbon capture, which taxpayers would have to replace if these properties disappeared.
The thing is, even undeveloped land costs money to maintain – up to $60,000 per property over time – and interest from the Steve Simmering endowment is meant to cover these annual costs. The principal remains invested to create a steady flow of cash year after year.
But right now we can’t offset our current annual costs, which limits our ability to accept new properties and shield them from development, too. With Enbridge’s help, your donation will do double duty to protect our current lands and give us the resources to accept new ecologically significant properties across the region in the future.
This giving season, let Enbridge double your impact and help keep our watershed green forever.
How to donate:
Step 1: Visit www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/11994;
Step 2: Choose “Steve Simmering Conservation Land Endowment Fund” from the drop-down list;
Step 3: Receive a charitable tax receipt in your inbox;
Step 4: Spread the word!
