Community Builders are people just like you. They come from different backgrounds and have a range of skills and life experiences. What unites them all is a shared passion and care for our community.

Every person can be a Community Builder. Let us introduce you to some we know well.

The Virtual Cup of Tea began the way a lot of things did during the pandemic: out of necessity, over a screen, with people trying to figure out something new.

Ashley Safar was part of that group and, several years later, she’s still showing up for it.

The Virtual Cup of Tea is an Indigenous-led circle of community members, all of whom represent organizations, that guides the Community Foundation’s Reconciliation funding. “The Foundation genuinely places decision-making in the hands of Indigenous community members,” Ashley says. “They give us the dollar amount, and we decide where it goes.”

“When Jennifer first invited us to meet and explained what the Community Foundation was offering as part of the Foundation’s Reconciliation efforts, it felt like a big ask,” she recalls. “We didn’t really know what it would look like. There’s a lot of accountability and responsibility we feel in that space, being part of the collective decision-making on how these funds are being used in community.”

John Good, the former Executive Director of the Community Foundation, doesn’t talk about philanthropy as posture, or performance; he talks about it as a responsibility – sometimes local, sometimes global, always relational. In his telling, giving is not about recognition, it’s about paying attention, building trust, and doing what can be done, even when the need is larger than any one person can solve.

That outlook has deep roots. “It’s really in my DNA,” he says.

Long before he joined the Community Foundation, John inherited a way of seeing the world from his family, especially from his grandmother. Widowed during the Great Depression while raising young children in Toronto, she worked as a welfare officer for the city while living below the poverty line herself. She spent her days visiting families in even harder circumstances, driven by faith and duty, and by what John describes as a genuine love of people.

One family story has stayed with him. His father, still a boy at the time, had a winter hat he adored – the kind with fur trim and big ear flaps. After visiting a family whose children had even less than he did, he wrestled with the decision and finally gave them his hat because “they needed it more than he did.”

Simon Liston has spent most of his life quietly making sure other people have a place to live, a chance to belong, and a way to contribute.

Simon’s family came to Canada from the UK in the late 1950s. They settled in Ottawa with very little but because his father was British and fit the racial and cultural expectations of Canadian employers at the time, he was able to find work within a few months. Affordable rental housing was also readily available to them and that early experience made an impact on Simon.

“I’ve always considered myself lucky,” he says. “I own my own house. I made a good living. A lot of people aren’t as fortunate, for no fault of their own. It just depends on the cards they were dealt or the economic situation they find themselves in. So, I want to give back to my community.”

Giving back became the through-line of Simon’s working life. In Toronto, what started as involvement in a student housing co-op near Toronto Metropolitan University grew into a career. He worked in some of the first residential rehabilitation programs in Riverdale and Leslieville “back in the days when housing was affordable,” then moved into the housing sector, helping to build and support housing co-operatives.

For decades, Linda and Al Slavin have lived on a beautiful acreage of mature trees (most of which they planted), veggie plots, and warm communal energy on the outskirts of Peterborough. They are stalwart contributors to the city’s social and environmental fabric.

Linda’s life defies a tidy summary. She was a catalyst in countless organizations – local, provincial, national, and international – helping to start, grow, and shape them before moving on to the next challenge.

“I have Parkinson’s now, so I’m doing much less. I work with For Our Grandchildren, I work with the Kawartha Commons Cohousing group and I do some odd work beyond that,” Linda said. “But I was involved. I helped establish the Kawartha World Issues Centre (KWIC). I had the kind of career that just one thing led to another. Many things came quickly; working on anti-racism through KWIC, gender issues with Elizabeth Fry, the Social Planning Council, GreenUP and others.”

Whatever she took on, Linda’s approach was always rooted in collaboration and public education.

 

For decades, the model of a major philanthropist has remained largely unchanged: a man with wealth, standing in front of a building bearing his name. But the reality has always been more complex, and perhaps no one understands this better than Theresa Butler-Porter.

“People still aren’t seeing women as philanthropists,” she says. “They’re not paying attention to them, they’re not listening, they’re slow to engage them the way they need to be engaged to become committed or interested in organizations and causes.”

Theresa transitioned to the philanthropic sector nearly twenty-five years ago after a long career in retail. She now guides donors through decisions that will shape institutions and communities long after they’re gone. In her time stewarding donors, Theresa has witnessed firsthand how the landscape of giving is shifting: not in sudden upheavals, but in a steady, determined movement led by women who, for the most part, do not seek recognition.

The Overlooked Philanthropists

“Women don’t care as much about their names on buildings,” Theresa explains. “If you go to any big university or hospital, it’s very rare to see a woman’s name on a building because that’s not what she cares about. She cares about the people and the programs, that’s what matters to her.”

In a cozy downtown apartment adorned with her late husband Stuart’s art, family photos and cherished mementos, Beth McMaster, a well-respected figure in Peterborough, reminisces about her lifelong journey of community service. Known for her significant contributions to the arts and her dedication to volunteerism, Beth’s story is a testament to the power of community and the impact of determined civic engagement.

Beth’s commitment to her community can be traced back to her roots in Bancroft, where volunteerism was woven into the fabric of her family’s life. “My parents, my grandparents – everybody volunteered their whole lives,” she recalls. “I grew up with that example and simply carried on with it.”

Starting her volunteer journey in high school, Beth’s early experiences included teaching Sunday school and organizing youth groups at her local church. Her father organized Bancroft’s Santa Claus parade every year and “we were all enlisted to be part of it,” she says. This foundation of giving back laid the groundwork for a lifetime of service, culminating in her involvement with the Peterborough Theatre Guild and Showplace Performance Centre.

As a young stay-at-home parent, Beth regularly volunteered as a way to remain active in the community. She did so by engaging in things her children could also participate in like theatre. A long-time writer – she wrote the high school column for the local paper in Bancroft – Beth began crafting shows for children. “There were so few plays for children around,” she explains. “I felt that kids deserved an original storyline, so I wrote a whole series of plays for children.”

You may not know Syd and Pam Birrell, but if you live in Greater Peterborough, you have almost certainly benefitted from their remarkable contribution to our region’s cultural life. Syd is the founder and conductor of the Peterborough Singers, one of Canada’s top-ranked choral societies. A Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, Syd has a rich musical background and is known for his community involvement. Pam is a gifted soprano soloist, a sought-after vocal teacher, a skilled director of musical theatre and captain of the Survivors Abreast dragon boat team.

Pam’s story is one of resilience and giving back. Growing up in a stable home in a lower-income neighbourhood, she was surrounded by examples of service. Her father was a police officer, and her mother worked in family services with the Salvation Army. “So, my parents were people who helped people,” Pam stated, “We didn’t have a lot growing up, but there were always people dropping in for meals. It was always known if you were in the neighborhood on Saturday, you could stop at my family’s home and have a burger for lunch.”

Julie Davis is one of the Foundation’s founding board members. Originally from Australia, Davis moved to Canada as a young university graduate after getting involved with AIESEC (pronounced eye-sek), a global student run platform that affords young people the opportunity to explore and develop their leadership potential.

Through AIESEC, Davis landed in Vancouver for a six-month contract with the BC Ministry of Communications and Culture. She stayed in Canada, going on to work for Unilever in Toronto, and later Quaker Oats in Peterborough. Now in her third term as Vice-President External Relations & Development at Trent University, Davis sat down with the Foundation to discuss her life experiences and what inspires her to devote so much energy to the philanthropic sector.

The following is our abridged conversation.

Helene Lowry, Founding Board Member & Former Board Secretary

At every Foundation board meeting, one person faithfully taps away in the corner, only breaking her silence occasionally to ask a clarifying question. As the Foundation’s recording secretary, Helene Lowry wants to be sure she gets the details right.

Janice Green, Founding Board Member & former Chair

Janice Green is a founding board member of the Foundation, and its second board chair. She grew up in southern Ontario, going on to graduate from the University of Guelph, and McMaster University (MBA). Then she lived in Winnipeg and Arizona before finally settling in Peterborough in 1990 with her husband and children.