My Brothers;

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal:
it is the courage to continue that counts.” Winston Churchill

At the 80th Grand Chapter this past June 2015, we saw our very own Past Chairman and Brother Tim Sanderson, WESTERN ONTARIO 1985, succeed at getting elected as Grand Quaestor! Congratulations Tim — we know you will do a fantastic job!

In this newsletter, we continue to celebrate the success of many of our award winners — both undergraduate and alumni brothers and individual chapters.

At the beginning of the year, we officially launched our ‘Making a Difference’ fundraising campaign. The Campaign is asking Sigma Chi Brothers to pledge and to donate to the Sigma Chi Canadian Foundation (SCCF) during the next five to ten years
— a total goal amount of $750,000. While we got off to a strong start, the results have been far below expectations and we have run into a number of hurdles including inaccu- rate contact information and challenging record keeping. But as mentioned above, failure is not fatal and thanks to the continuing efforts of Brothers John Ricketts, Lionel “Leo” Colman and David MacNicol, as well as others, we will continue to forge ahead to reach our goal. Why you ask?

Because SCCF continues its work to solicit financial resources, provide faithful stewardship and engage in exemplary practices in support of Sigma Chi and leadership development in Canada. Our leadership programs, awards and scholarships continually make a difference in the lives of undergraduate brothers across the country.

Based on the results to-date, and the work that remains yet to be done, I hope
you will continue to see the merit in supporting the Sigma Chi Canadian Foundation. As always, we are grateful to the many Alumni Brothers who donate their time, talent and effort to deliver our mission of strengthening Sigma Chi in Canada. We are also grateful for those who serve our Undergraduate Brothers as Chapter Advisors, House Corporation leaders and many other capacities.

At the end of our next fiscal year, ended June 30, 2016, I will be stepping down as Chair after three (3) years of service but will continue working on the Board as Past Chair and on various Committees. In my place, Brother David MacNicol, WESTERN ONTARIO 1986, has agreed to step up from his Vice Chair role. We are always looking for talented volunteers for the various Committees of the Board and the Board of Directors itself.

Finally, please accept my sincere gratitude to all of you who donate to our efforts. We continue to work hard to earn your support and we are committed to continuing to do so.

Warm regards and In Hoc Signo Vinces,
David J. Garland, WATERLOO 1989

My Brothers;

“No general can fight his battles alone. He must depend upon his lieutenants, and his success depends upon his ability to select the right man for the right place.” Philip Armour

A year ago in the newsletter, we announced our plans for the ‘Making A Difference’ fundraising campaign in order to address a critical sustainability issue of our own financial reserves. That planning continues as we sign on our various Chapter Captains (aka our Lieutenants) and solicit Key Donors as we approach our official launch date in early 2015. To date we have raised 35% of our planned goal amount of $750,000.

I have received questions from some Brothers as to why we need to raise money when our total assets exceed $2M. The answer is simple: the majority of funding required for our leadership programs and many scholarships offered comes out of the SCCF reserves while the majority of donations received are earmarked for specific Chapter accounts to help with their housing needs­ — that is not a sustainable long term financial model.

Speaking of our scholarship programs, we received a great letter from one of the parents of a Brother who received a Leadership scholarship:
“I want to thank you for your support of our son this year. My husband and I were a bit perplexed when our son joined Sigma Chi but it has been a great experience for him and he is so proud of his Fraternity. Our son is taking on quite a challenge in his studies and your faith in him is appreciated more than in the monetary help the scholarship provides. Keep up your good work.”

At the Sigma Chi Canadian Foundation (SCCF), all the work is performed
by volunteers (also our lieutenants) who continue their work to solicit financial
resources, provide faithful stewardship of our funds, and engage in exemplary practices in support of strengthening Sigma Chi in Canada. As shown earlier, our leadership programs, awards and scholarships are making a difference in the lives of undergrad brothers across the country and I would like to personally thank each and every one of our donors listed within who have made that possible. More importantly, I look forward to that continued support for our new campaign once officially launched.

I would like to specifically thank the continued volunteer leadership provided by my lieutenants: Brothers David MacNicol, David Lucescu, John Ricketts, John Akitt, Jeff Lee, Lionel Colman, Doug Towers, Doug McWhirter and the rest of the Board.

In Hoc,
David J. Garland, WATERLOO 1989

My Brothers;

The only constant is change for Sigma Chi Canada – positive change!

While the two year reign of Canada’s first truly international sweetheart, Sydney Madison Binnington, came to a very successful end in June ’13, I am very happy to report that Sydney will continue her wonderful involvement with Sigma Chi with the US foundation (with some transition help from the Canadian Foundation).

Here at the Canadian Foundation, we are enhancing the technical fiscal resources available to the chapters by expanding and further improving the joint capability and responsibility for fund raising. As you have hopefully already noticed, we have redesigned our website and it now includes a new Customer Relationship Management (“CRM”) component and improved online giving capabilities (including multi-year pledges).

The Canadian Foundation continues its work to solicit financial resources, provide faithful stewardship, and engage in exemplary practices in support of Sigma Chi and leadership development in Canada. Our leadership programs, awards and scholarships are making a difference in the lives of undergrad brothers across the country and I would like to personally thank each and every one of our donors who have made this possible over the years!

In order to address a critical sustainability issue of our own financial reserves to continue the great work that we do, the SCCF is planning the ‘Making A Difference’ fundraising campaign, launching in April ’14. The Campaign will ask Sigma Chi Brothers to pledge and to donate to the SCCF during the next five years – a total goal amount of $750,000.

Finally a quick note on other changes happening at the Canadian Foundation: after more than 10 years as Chair, D. Timothy Sanderson has stepped down to pursue other Sigma Chi interests and assume the role as Past Chair. In his place, I have agreed to step up from my Treasurer’s role and David Lucescu has one again returned to re-assume the Treasurer duties. David MacNicol has agreed to become Vice-Chair. I want to welcome all the David’s to their new roles and also thank Doug Towers for his extended service as Past Chair.

We are always looking for talented volunteers for the various committees of the Broad and the Broad itself. Your support is very much appreciated and needed.

Let’s keep our mission statement alive by continuing to strengthen Sigma Chi in Canada!

In Hoc,

David Garland (Waterloo Ontairo ’89)