Wingham, Ont. pharmacists leave town multi-million dollar endowment fund
Lee and Thora Vance were institutions on Wingham’s Main Street from 1955-1998, running Vance’s Pharmacy and living above the store, and their impact is still being felt.
“If you needed medication after hours or on a holiday, you could come down here, ring the doorbell, and they’d be right down to fill your prescription. They were just the nicest people you’d ever want to meet,” says Wingham Business Improvement Association Chair Dave Tiffin.
Even though the Vances have passed on, Lee in 2006 and Thora in 2019, they’re continuing to give back to their community.
Before their deaths, the couple set up a $7-million endowment fund for Wingham. The interest, estimated to be between $250,000 and $300,000 a year is to be spent to support education, health care, recreation and Christian churches in Wingham.
“This is one of the most amazing opportunities for any town, anywhere. These people spent their lifetime here and they saved, and they were on the Main Street working six days a week, and helping us out on the the seventh day, when we asked for it. So for them to make a donation like this that will bring in $250,000 to $300,000 a year to be put towards those that need it, is just amazing. We’re so grateful, so grateful,” says Municipality of North Huron Reeve Bernie Bailey.
“When I first heard about this, it kind of made my jaw drop. I mean this amount of money to be given to a community, to go in perpetuity. I mean, it’s going to literally...going on forever. It just doesn’t come along very often. It’s just so fantastic,” says Tiffin.
Tiffin and Bailey are part of a board that will take in applications and decide where the Vance Endowment Fund money will be spent each year. They expect the first grants to be spent in the community in 2022.
“Not many towns will have this opportunity, and we’re just so grateful. But, knowing the folks, it doesn’t really surprise me how generous they were,” says Bailey.
The Lee and Thora Vance Fund is set up through the Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
They were from different countries and barely spoke each other's languages. More than 20 years later, they're still happily in love
He decided to spend Christmas somewhere that wouldn't involve snowstorm disasters. She was spending the holidays with family, travelling for the first time outside of her native country of Venezuela. 23 years later, they're still in love.
Man who set himself on fire outside Trump trial dies of injuries, police say
A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former U.S. President Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said.
Verdun Airbnb listing taken down amid complaints, fines and frustration from neighbours
An Airbnb in Montreal's Verdun borough was the source of much frustration from neighbours who say there were constant parties at the location. It has been taken down from the app, but housing advocates remain upset about short-term rentals.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
Fire in Labrador town under control, officials tells residents to stay away
RCMP say the fire that prompted a state of emergency in a Labrador town is now under control.
12 students and teacher killed in Columbine school shooting remembered at 25th anniversary vigil
Thirteen victims of the Columbine High School shooting were remembered during a vigil Friday on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the shooting that was the worst the nation had seen at the time.
Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza city of Rafah kills at least 9 Palestinians, including 6 children
An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza's southernmost city killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
Iraq investigates a blast at a base of Iran-allied militias that killed 1. U.S. denies involvement
Iraqi authorities said Saturday that they were investigating an explosion that struck a base belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of Iran-allied militias, killing one person and injuring eight.