The Buderim Foundation has, for the sixth consecutive year, provided Back to School vouchers to local schools and charities.

The 150 $50 vouchers will be distributed by the schools and charities to families requiring assistance with their children’s back-to-school expenses. The vouchers can be spent at Target stores.

The vouchers, valued at $7,500, are provided to the Buderim Foundation by the Australia-wide Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR), which operates the Back to School Program.

Buderim’s Foote Sanctuary now has a state-of-the art drinking fountain – thanks to a grant from the Buderim Foundation.

The fountain was officially turned on for the Eric Joseph Foote War Memorial Sanctuary’s annual general meeting and Christmas party in December.

The grant of $3,715 from the Foundation covered the cost of the fountain which is wheelchair accessible and includes a bowl for dogs. Overflow water from the fountain goes into the doggie bowl.

The Buderim Concert Band will hold a musical masterclass for local concert band musicians next year thanks to a grant of $3,090 from the Buderim Foundation.

The grant was made in the 2009 round of Buderim Foundation grants in September which saw $16,500 handed out to local organisations.

The Buderim Concert Band has already established a committee to oversee the planning of this event which will be held on June 26 next year.

The Buderim Lions Park will come alive with families on Sunday, November 1, when the Lions Club of Buderim holds the first of its free Family Days In The Park.

A joint venture between the Lions club and youth organisation Fusion, the event will feature low impact outdoors entertainment and supervised children’s activities from 3p.m. to 6p.m.

Brian McBride of Buderim Lions said it was planned to hold the event monthly, except in winter.

EdenLea on Buderim joins inaugural sponsors the Buderim Pharmacy and the Buderim Chronicle in a three-year sponsorship of the Buderim Foundation.

EdenLea Director David Hawtrey believes sponsorship of the Foundation is the best way for his family’s company to give back to the community.

“Buderim and its community have provided us with the ideal location for business and family life for more than 40 years,” he said.

“Sponsoring the Foundation allows us to give back to the community in ways that reach far beyond our own industry.

Read two articles from page 2 of the Buderim Chronicle's reporting of the Foundation's Good News Night regarding the commitment of the Foundation's donors, sponsors and funders and details of the seven applicants that received grants in 2009.

Read the front page of the Buderim Chronicle's news article on the successful 2009 Grant Applicants.

What does a pizza oven, high ropes course, a funky new museum and a battle of the bands event all have in common?

They are just some of the exciting projects put forward by a group of young people involved in the Buderim Foundation’s Youth in Philanthropy Project.

The Project required Buderim residents aged between 12 and 25 years to determine how a community grant of $40,000 could best serve the needs of young people in Buderim.

Buderim Foundation Director Dr Sarah Bird said the Youth in Philanthropy Project was the first of its kind on the Sunshine Coast.

The Suncoasters Square Dance Club is now all lit up – thanks, in part, to a grant from the Buderim Foundation.

The club’s centre, in Dixon Road, has a new $30,000 carpark, built with the help of the Sunshine Coast Regional Council as well as fundraising by the dance club. A grant of $4,752 from the Buderim Foundation helped pay for lighting it and the pedestrian link with the club building.

How many sausage sizzles does it take to build a scout shed? Quite a few. But when you add a couple of healthy donations from the local community then the money mounts up.

When Buderim Scouts’ wooden shed at their Lindsay Road headquarters reached the end of its life – with age and termites – scouts sought help from the local philanthropic organisation, the Buderim Foundation, and the Sunshine Coast Regional Council to replace it.

The Buderim Foundation has increased its total funds to be distributed in this year’s round of grants in September to local community organisations by 10 per cent to $16,500.

Last year, in its first year of grants, the Foundation gave a total of $15,000 which was shared among the Buderim Scouts, Buderim Mountain State School and the Suncoasters Square Dance Club.

Annual grants applications close for 2009 on July 31. The Foundation’s Grants Committee will assess applications and announce the successful recipients at the Foundation’s Good News Night on September 18.

The Buderim Foundation has launched a new initiative to celebrate the memory of  family members and friends and pay tribute to their unique contributions to the local community.

The memories of eleven former Buderim residents from all walks of life – with different interests and passions have been preserved and honoured permanently in the records of the Buderim community.

This year the Buderim Foundation will distribute an estimated $15,000 to local non-profit organisations to fund, or part fund, projects of benefit to the Buderim community. 

An information session for community groups interested in applying for a 2009 Buderim Foundation Grant will be held in the Buderim Old Post Office on Wednesday 27 May at 5.30pm.

Grant applications open on 15 June and close 31 July. Successful grant recipients will be announced at the Foundation's Good News Night in September.

When two former students of the Buderim Mountain State School tried to source information about their class of 1963 for a school reunion last year they ran into difficulties - no adequate records were easily accessible.

Gail Mackenzie (nee Neuendorf) and Carol Dahler (nee Monks) decided then that something must be done to build a proper archive of the school's history. Mrs Dahler said: "We discovered the vital history of our school was in disarray. So, we decided to do something about it."

At yesterday's Good News Night , winners of the Buderim Foundation's first ever grants were announced.

This year's applicants submitted a wide range of worthwhile community projects aimed at improving Buderim community's quality of life.

Good news, real progress and a great Buderim concept all deserve to be celebrated which is why the Buderim Foundation is holding a Good News Night in the Buderim Memorial Hall on 19 September.

The Good News Night will give interested members of the community the opportunity to learn of the Buderim Foundation's progress and to hear of plans for the future.

It's also the perfect opportunity for people who are not yet involved in the Foundation to gain an understanding of the concept, and what has been achieved to date.

For the first time in its short history, the Buderim Foundation is inviting local non-profit organisations to apply for grants available through the Foundation's Community Grants Program.

Developed with the aim of improving Buderim's quality of life, the program has an estimated funding pool of around $15 000 to provide funds to a limited number of projects.

The Buderim Foundation has been offered up to $20,000 for youth projects in Buderim. But, there's a catch: the Foundation must match the offer dollar for dollar.

Foundation Chair Gary Hopkins said a national philanthropic organisation had made the offer on condition the Buderim community organisation could match it.

The Buderim Foundation has had its allocation of funds to help parents with back-to-school expenses more than doubled this year.

The Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR), which operates the programme, has allocated $12,500 to the Buderim Foundation - one of only three community associations to get an allocation - because they believe the Buderim organisation is one of the stronger community foundations.

Starting a new school year can be difficult for parents who have to find resources to get students ready for school.

Local community organisation, the Buderim Foundation, has appointed three new directors, Michael Bloyce, Ken Waddington and Margaret Welshe.

The Foundation, an independent, not-for-profit, philanthropic organisation, was established by the Buderim War Memorial Community Association in 2003 to attract donations from individuals, including bequests and tax deductible donations.

The new directors join Gary Hopkins (Chair), Simon Whittle (Vice Chair), Sarah Bird, Leanne Evans, Rohan Jackson, David Potts and Margaret Thursby on the Board.

An anonymous donation of $50,000 this week has boosted the funds of the Buderim Foundation to nearly a quarter of a million dollars.

Announcing the cash donation, the Foundation's Chairman, Mr Gary Hopkins, said this was the largest single donation the Foundation had yet received. "We are extremely grateful to the donor," he said.

Other donations of $5,000, $10,000 and $20,000, as well as a number of donations of between $100 and $1,000, had also been received recently.

Buderim residents will have an opportunity to breakfast with our popular State Governor Ms Quentin Bryce AC on Wednesday, May 9.

Ms Bryce is revisiting Buderim at the invitation of the breakfast organisers, the Buderim Foundation.

Ms Bryce visited Buderim in April, 2004, to launch the Foundation. At the time she said the Foundation was a credit to the community and provided a mechanism for people to give their time, their treasure and their talent.

It costs more than $2,000 on average every year to send a child to a public primary school and more than $4,000 a year to send a child to a government high school, research shows.

Starting a new school year can be difficult for parents to find resources to get students ready for school. In response to the need, and through the generosity of the Sidney Myer Fund, The Pratt Foundation, and DOXA Youth Foundation, the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR) is working with community foundations across Australia to provide practical help.

Buderim is breaking out in burgundy-coloured car stickers.

The stickers are appearing on cars and letterboxes as the Buderim Foundation, a community organisation set up to raise funds to preserve and enhance Buderim's quality of life, promotes an Ambassador programme.

Twelve-year-old Ellie Neuendorf stole the show when the Buderim Foundation held a Moonlit Garden Gathering at the Neuendorf's Ormsby Park home on Buderim on Saturday, November 4.

Ellie welcome about 120 guests to her family's beautiful home to enjoy good food and good wine in a garden setting. And, yes, the rain stayed away and as Foundation Chairman Gary Hopkins spoke and introduced Ellie the clouds parted and the moon did shine - briefly.

Here is the text of Ellie's welcome:

The Buderim Foundation will start evaluating potential local community projects to support when its fund reaches an amount sufficient to generate substantial income, Chairman Gary Hopkins said. "Only the income from the pooled funds will be used so that donations and bequests are held in trust for ever. So, we'll need a large pooled fund," he said.

The fledgling Buderim Foundation has received a bequest of more than $38,000, boosting the fund's total to more than $100,000.

Announcing the bequest, Foundation chairman, Mr Gary Hopkins, said the donation, from the estate of the late Mrs Beryl Adsett, was a very welcome gift. "It will go a long way to helping us achieve our goal of an even better Buderim in which to live," he said.