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
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Made-in-Newfoundland vodka claims top prize at worldwide competition
A Newfoundland-made vodka has been named one of the world’s best by judges at this year’s World Vodka Awards.