For more than a decade, the name Ford has been synonymous with opportunity at Penhold Crossing School. Now, that legacy has grown again. Longtime Penhold residents Stewart and Eileen Ford have added $500,000 to their scholarship fund at the Community Foundation of Central Alberta, bringing the Ford Family Endowment Fund to a total of $1.5 million, and making a significant investment in educational opportunities for students.

The new gift will allow the fund to award five scholarships of $10,000 each, every year, in perpetuity, providing substantial support to graduating students pursuing post-secondary education.

A Legacy Rooted in Belief

The story of the Ford Family Endowment Fund began in 2013, when Stewart and Eileen made their first $500,000 commitment to invest in the future of students graduating from Penhold Crossing School. The gift was personal from the start. Stewart’s parents were teachers, and Eileen herself once taught at Penhold School. Their own grandchildren attended Penhold School, with their oldest among the first class to move through the new Penhold Crossing High School.

For the Fords, education has always been a core value. This foundational belief in the power of education planted the seed for the Ford Family Fund, built not for a single graduating class, but for generations to come.

Ten Years of Impact, and Counting

Since its first scholarships were awarded in 2014, the fund has distributed $355,000 to Penhold Crossing students, initially offering five to six scholarships of $5,000 each. In 2024, marking the fund’s tenth anniversary, the Fords responded to the rising cost of post-secondary education by doubling each award to $10,000.

CFCAB Executive Director Erin Peden says, “The Ford Family’s generosity and foresight is profound. We know that the fund’s true impact reaches beyond the money into the stories of Penhold graduates who found the encouragement and means to pursue their passions because one family chose to invest in them.”

Dr. Ryan Sawula, Superintendent of Schools for Chinook’s Edge School Division, echoed that sentiment, pointing to the tangible difference the awards make for graduates each year.

“The Ford Family Scholarships make a real difference for Penhold Crossing Secondary School graduates every year. A $10,000 award can mean starting post-secondary right away instead of putting it off, or focusing on studies instead of working long hours to cover tuition. Preparing students for a successful move into post-secondary education and careers is a priority for Chinook’s Edge School Division, and the Ford family’s generosity puts meaningful support behind that work. On behalf of the division, thank you to the Ford family for investing in our students’ futures.”

Looking Ahead

With the endowment now at $1.5 million, the Ford Family Scholarship enters its next chapter as a cornerstone of opportunity in Penhold. The scholarship is a permanent, growing resource that will support five students a year, every year, for as long as the school stands.

For the Fords, the scholarship is not about recognition but about the belief that a community that invests in its students invests in its own future. Eileen Ford put it simply when the fund was first established: she and Stewart wanted the ability to invest in something that would continue beyond their lifetimes.

Today, that vision is $1.5 million strong, and still growing.

One Year Later: The Community Tour’s Lasting Impact

How 25 grants made impact across Central Alberta

When the Community Tour wrapped up last spring, it left behind grants for projects and programs that have had quiet but meaningful impact on communities across Central Alberta. One year later, the final grant reports are in. What they reveal is a picture of resilience, creativity, and deep community care stretching from youth shelters to seniors’ lodges, from school playgrounds to library shelves. We wanted to share some of the highlights:

Mental Health and Youth

Anam Rural Youth Association used their grant to work with system-disconnected youth who struggle with mental health but don’t fit into traditional supports. Their trauma-informed approach has been instrumental in not only connecting with youth, but also saving lives, preventing substance abuse and addictions, preventing incarceration and breaking the cycle of trauma.

Mountain View Emergency Shelter Society used their grant to build a Teen Club space at Kirsten’s Place, a new shelter for youth fleeing family violence. The project transformed an area within the shelter into a welcoming and supportive environment where youth can relax, socialize, express themselves creatively, and participate in age-appropriate activities during a time that is often filled with uncertainty and emotional stress.

Arts, Culture, and Gathering

Ellis Bird Farm Ltd. created an Indigenous Garden and hosted a Pipe Ceremony led by Elders. Attendees walked through the young garden hearing stories and seeing tobacco and medicinal plants for the first time, many visibly moved. This project successfully preserved important traditions and helped build stronger relationships and mutual respect among everyone involved.

Elnora & District Agricultural Society held a Corn Hole Tournament that brought community together on a sunny day. Among them: an 80-year-old woman who won $10 in the B event and was “just so thrilled.” The organizers are now hoping to hold monthly winter drop-in nights.

Rocky Mountain House Reunion Center Historical Society hosted a Canada Day Pancake Breakfast with live music for 400 people, connecting neighbours, newcomers, and longtime residents.

Food Security: Meals and Gardens

Rocky Mountain House & District West Country Family Service Association and Home Support Stettler & District were able to subsidize their Meals-on-Wheels programs, meaning that these grants provided 270 meals in Rocky and 225 in Stettler. That amounts to nearly 500 meals delivered, providing opportunities to nourish someone, check in on their well-being, and reinforce their dignity and independence. Survey responses captured the human side: “Many thanks for this service.” “I am benefitting health wise from the variety.”

Sylvan Lake Municipal Library planted a Community Garden, moving from funding to full implementation in eight weeks. Volunteers assembled raised beds, planted cold and warm season crops, and ran hands-on gardening workshops. It drew people of all ages and backgrounds, becoming as much a space for community connection as for food production.

Lacombe & District Family Community Support Services used the grant to support their Backyard Friends Community Dinner series, with an average of 250 attendees per supper. Seniors, newcomers, families, and individuals simply seeking connection all came through the doors, reinforcing the program’s role not just as a food initiative, but as a community-building one.

Friends of the Innisfail Library Society and Blackfalds Public Library both launched Snacks in the Stacks programs, placing freely available food and snacks in the library, available to the public. Both libraries saw success with the program noting that, “even a modest program such as this was able to have a meaningful impact in our community which reinforces the library’s role as a cornerstone of community wellbeing. We don’t just lend out books!”

Seniors: Dignity and Belonging

Sylvan Lake Lodge used their grant to plant a Petunia Tree, and hosted a formal dedication ceremony where residents dedicated flower bowls to loved ones. It gave seniors a meaningful contribution to make to something larger than themselves.

Sylvan Lake Community Partners used their grant for their medical taxi program, covering trips to Red Deer for seniors without transportation. One woman expressed extreme thankfulness, saying she didn’t know what she would have done without it.

A Lasting Legacy

Some of the tour’s most deeply-felt impacts were also its most personal, and we were able to see this through the photos and testimonials shared in the final grant reports.

“Time and again, we saw modest investments produce profound returns. A garden for just over a thousand dollars that brought an entire community together. A snack program that quietly became a safety net. The Community Foundation didn’t just fund projects. We invested in the conditions that allow communities to thrive,” said Erin Peden, CFCAB Executive Director.

The Community Foundation is proud to invest in what matters most, which is the people and programs at the heart of our communities. Grant stories like these remind us why that connection matters, and what’s possible when communities have the resources to match their ambition.

Spring is here, and so is a new round of our Community Microgrants! This cycle, the Community Foundation of Central Alberta is proud to support ten organizations across Central Alberta, each receiving $5,000 to fund projects that reflect the creativity and resilience of Central Alberta.

From maternal health and support for both youth and seniors, to Indigenous land-based learning and clean energy internships, this round of funding speaks to the breadth of need and innovation happening right here in our region. Here’s a look at who received support and what they’re working on:

Blackfalds FCSS – Anam Rural Youth Programming Support Initiative
Anam’s relational model meets youth and young adults where they are, providing early, preventative mental health intervention without cost, transportation barriers, or system navigation requirements. The grant will help Anam respond to increasing needs among youth experiencing exploitation risk and mental health crises who are not well-served by traditional systems. Funding will also support Anam’s mobile mental health outreach program, including staff time, transportation, and basic client supports such as food during sessions.

Care for Newcomers – Youth & Elders Film Project
This grant will enable newcomer youth in Central Alberta to participate in a professional documentary filmmaking project in partnership with Reel Youth, a nationally recognized non-profit media arts organization. Working alongside professional filmmakers over several consecutive days, youth will interview and film local elders, documenting stories of hope, survival, and resilience. The project introduces a high-quality creative arts pathway that responds directly to emerging needs around identity, belonging, and youth voice.

Ellis Bird Farm – Indigenous Land Based Learning
Funding will support the “Rooted and Rising” Indigenous Youth Summer Camp, a four-day-per-week immersive outdoor experience at Ellis Nature Centre connecting young people with the land, Cree language, and cultural teachings. Each day, a different Elder or Knowledge Keeper will partner with Ellis Nature Centre’s education team to lead sessions on native bird species, medicinal plants, Tipi Teachings, and traditional arts using materials such as wolfwillow beads and porcupine quills. The camp will be offered at no cost to Indigenous youth, with capacity for up to 50 children per day.

Family Services Central Alberta – Bridging Mothers Postpartum Peer Support
This grant will fund the development and delivery of a six-module training curriculum for the Bridging Mothers Postpartum Peer Support initiative, which pairs isolated new mothers with trained peer mentors who offer understanding, guidance, and early mental health support grounded in shared lived experience. The curriculum is informed by best practices in maternal mental health and will cover active listening, safety and crisis protocols, intercultural awareness, perinatal grief, and ongoing support resources. Strengthening this training capacity will expand the program’s reach, reduce social isolation, and improve emotional well-being for parents and infants in Red Deer and area.

Home Support Stettler & District – Insulated Meal Carriers
Funding will purchase insulated hard-cover meal carriers for the organization’s Meals on Wheels service, which consistently delivered over 4,400 meals to clients in the Town and County of Stettler in 2025. The new carriers keep meals warmer, are easier to sanitize, and are simpler for volunteers to handle, which will improve both service quality and environmental sustainability. Home Support Stettler & District serves approximately 110 clients per month across a range of in-home services, helping seniors and people with disabilities live safely and independently in their own homes.

Ponoka Youth Centre – BGC Wolf Creek Youth Life Skills Programs
This grant will support three targeted programs at BGC Wolf Creek Clubs in Ponoka, Lacombe, Blackfalds, and Rimbey, offered at no cost to participants throughout the school year. Thrive is a drop-in mental health and positive relationships program incorporating peer engagement and an evidence-based curriculum. Lead Up is a leadership development program building skills in resilience, decision-making, conflict resolution, and community service. Learn On provides academic tutoring, homework support, career exploration, and goal setting. Together, these programs address the social, emotional, and educational challenges facing youth in communities where resources are limited.

Red Deer Food Bank – Agrivoltaics Internship Development
Funding will serve as a wage subsidy to secure a paid Indigenous youth internship connected to an agrivoltaics applied research initiative with Red Deer Polytechnic and ReThink Red Deer. The $5,000 grant will be applied directly to the intern’s wages, leveraging additional support from Indigenous Clean Energy’s Generation Power Program to ensure the placement is fully delivered. This investment moves from planning to implementation, building a repeatable, paid career pathway at the intersection of clean energy and local food systems — and reducing reliance on short-term, piecemeal staffing and volunteers.

Red Deer Native Friendship Society – Sustainable Medicines
This grant will support the construction of a greenhouse to grow traditional medicines,  including sweetgrass, sage, and tobacco, that are used daily in ceremony, programming, client supports, and community events at the friendship centre. After growing medicines indoors, the organization is ready to expand to a dedicated greenhouse that will allow them to supply all programs and services sustainably and without the need to purchase externally. Growing their own medicines ensures the spiritual integrity of cultural practices, as the medicines will be tended by those who understand the protocols involved in growing them for ceremonial use.

Turning Point Society – Transition Funding
Following the sudden loss of core provincial funding in October 2025, this grant will help Turning Point Society bridge critical harm reduction services to rural clients and satellite sites who have been left without access to supplies and support since that time. Funds will be used to secure and deliver safer supply orders to satellite sites that have not received shipments in months, and to cover personnel costs for outreach trips to these communities. This bridging support is life-saving and time-sensitive, helping prevent the spread of blood-borne infections while the organization pursues longer-term funding solutions.

Wolf Creek Public Schools – Indigenous Training in Trades
This grant will enable Wolf Creek Public School to develop and enhance programming that supports student mental health, social-emotional learning, and equitable access to opportunities across Ponoka and surrounding communities. Specifically, funding will support targeted Indigenous wellness workshops, expanded mentorship and peer-support programs, and access to essential learning materials for under-resourced students. The initiative also aims to strengthen Wolf Creek’s role as a community hub by developing collaborative programs with local organizations, families, and stakeholders that foster leadership, civic responsibility, and cultural responsiveness.

We are grateful to each of these organizations for the meaningful work they do every day. Their projects remind us that when communities invest health, culture, belonging, and opportunity, the impact goes far beyond any single grant.