Local Organizations to Benefit from New Community Program at the Centre
-Lou MacEachern Community Partnership Program launched at CCOA-
A new partnership program launched at Confederation Centre of the Arts will make the Centre’s facilities more accessible to a variety of local organizations.
The Lou MacEachern Community Partnership Program allows a diverse cross-section of local organizations whose goals and objectives are aligned with those of the Centre to have better access to the Centre’s facilities and resources.
“This program allows the Centre to partner with some of the organizations that share our values and goals so that we can help one another,” describes Centre CEO Steve Bellamy. “By making our facilities and resources more accessible to these organizations, we make it easier for them to meet their mandate, which benefits the wider community.”
The program is supported by a two hundred thousand-dollar ($200,000) donation from long-time Centre supporter Lou MacEachern. The donation will also see the Centre’s Upper Plaza, facing Grafton Street, continue to bear his name moving forward.
“I am thrilled to be supporting Confederation Centre of the Arts and the creation of the Community Partnership Program,” states MacEachern. “Community has always been very important to me. We should always offer a helpful hand to those who need it, locally, regionally, and nationally and it is critical—now more than ever—that we collaborate and build community together.”
The Centre has partnered with five organizations for the new program: L’nuey, Black Cultural Society, United Way of PEI, Art InThe Open, and the PEI Symphony Orchestra.
“Thank you, Confederation Centre and Lou MacEachern for partnering with us to celebrate the work United Way of PEI does in our community,” offers United Way of PEI CEO Andrea MacDonald. “Collaborating with the Centre on recent projects like United by Song, our signature event that shares the stories of Islanders who have been impacted by our funded programs, has been a wonderful opportunity for everyone. This new partnership program is a valuable platform, one that will help us act together on shared initiatives here in Charlottetown and across P.E.I.”
The Centre looks forward to announcing further details of the program including shared initiatives with each of these organizations in the months ahead.
Photo cutline: Confederation Centre’s Mainstage Theatre (Heather Ogg photo).
Background
Louis “Lou” William MacEachern is an active volunteer and philanthropist in both his native Prince Edward Island and his long-time home of Calgary, Alberta. Mr. MacEachern is the President of Fortune Industries Ltd, a property management and financing company. He has served or is currently serving on the board of numerous corporations, including: Acadia Capital Corporation, Blueland Resources, Buckeye Energy Corp, Eagle Plains Resources Ltd, Hoodoo Hydrocarbons Ltd, Hurricane Hydrocarbons Ltd., RareMethod Capital Inc., and Wellpoint Services.
Lou’s long-standing community engagement includes contributions to the governance of such Island institutions as Confederation Centre of the Arts (since 2000), UPEI, and Holland College, as well as support for the Salvation Army and youth shelters. His contributions to the Centre have been generous, including towards the named space in his honour, the Lou MacEachern Upper Plaza (Grafton-street entrance).
Mr. MacEachern’s generosity will help fund the new Community Partnership Program, an access program for a diverse range of Island community groups with shared values that will facilitate improved access and integration when presenting programs and working with and at Confederation Centre of the Arts.