Weekly News Recap: May 10, 2019

Vancouver's iconic Science World is located in False Creek, near Olympic Village. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

Art is anything you can get away with. — Marshall McLuhan

Vincent's Top Picks

  • Polar bears and whale bones. And ten other award-winning photos
  • James Holzhauer is closing in on $2 million in "Jeopardy" winnings...and he is giving some of it away
  • Happy birthday to one of our most iconic science centres
  • Say hello to Mount Royal University's new president
  • Sing along to our national anthem...in Cree
  • An Australian company banned Wednesdays...and seriously ramped up its profits
  • Instructions on how to fly a jumbo jet (because you just never know...)
  • Warren Buffet on video!
  • We bid a goodbye to Jean Vanier, champion for the disabled
  • A seismic shift in the politics of climate change
  • Online giving is plateauing (can you believe it?)
  • A $100 million gift...made anonymously
  • ...And much much more...

Photography

  • Winners of the 2019 BigPicture Natural World Photography Competition (Atlantic) Wowzers! These are all spectacular. "Entrants in this year’s contest were invited to submit images that showcase Earth’s biodiversity and show some of the mounting threats to the natural world. These images originally appeared on bioGraphic, an online magazine about science and sustainability and the official media sponsor for the California Academy of Sciences’ BigPicture Natural World Photography Competition." 5/6/19

News

  • Get a sneak peek of the Stanley A. Milner Library renovations (CBC) EDMONTON STORY It looks great. Can't wait to visit. "There's still about five months of construction work remaining at the newly renovated downtown Stanley Milner Library. The Edmonton Public Library will take possession of the building in late September before the grand opening on Feb. 14 next year." 5/7/19

  • 'Jeopardy' champ James Holzhauer donates $10K to non-profit for disadvantaged kids (NBC) This guy is amazing. You can watch a video of him on Jeopardy here. "Holzhauer and his wife, Melissa, have donated $10,000 to Project 150, which helps provide food, clothing, supplies and other resources to homeless or disadvantaged students in the Las Vegas area. As of Friday's episode, James Holzhauer, a sports bettor who lives in Las Vegas, is a 22-day 'Jeopardy!' champion with winnings of nearly $1.7 million and several of the show's single-day records. The Holzhauers have already donated $10,000 to the Las Vegas Museum of Natural History." 5/6/19

  • What's next for the old Royal Alberta Museum? Concerned residents make plea for repurposing the site (Edmonton Journal) EDMONTON STORY Love this old building. Hope they can find a good use for it. Any ideas? "A community walk around the old Royal Alberta Museum site Sunday afternoon has reignited concerns for the building while a decision from the provincial government on its future remains in the balance." 5/5/19

  • Vancouver's Science World celebrates 30th anniversary (CBC) VANCOUVER STORY Happy Birthday TELUS World of Science, Vancouver. "One of Vancouver's most photographed landmarks turns 30 on Monday, after ushering more than 18 million people through its doors since its inception. Science World, known formally as the Telus World of Science, is one of nine similar not-for-profit museums dedicated to science education in Canada." 5/5/19

  • Smooth sailing expected as S.S. Moyie returns to Heritage Park (Calgary Sun) CALGARY STORY Yay! Love sailing on the lovely old paddle wheeler. "Calgary’s Heritage Park is preparing to set sail on what is expected to be a revenue-boosting year after being one of several city attractions struggling to stay afloat amid financial losses in 2018. The S.S. Moyie paddlewheeler, one of the park’s most popular attractions, is returning to active duty after being dry-docked for the past year while repairs were made to the Glenmore Dam, resulting in a 22 per cent drop in attendance for the summer season and a loss of $1.2 million in [revenue]." 5/5/19

  • B.C. girl collects hundreds of shoes for charity at annual lemonade stand (CBC) PORT MOODY STORY This idea has sole. "A 12-year-old girl in Port Moody, B.C., has set up a lemonade stand in her neighbourhood to collect hundreds of gently-used shoes to help children and families in Mozambique and Zimbabwe. It's the fifth year that Calliope Tyliakos has set up the stand, with the help of her mother. The pair promote the weekend-long event on social media and through their neighbourhood. Instead of charging money for lemonade, she asks customers to donate shoes." 5/4/19

  • Putting an end to homelessness coast to coast (Troy Media) CANADIAN STORY Go Tim! "The Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness [CAEH] is a charity founded here in Calgary in 2011 that leads a national movement of communities working together to end homelessness in Canada. [The] CAEH is working in 50 cities across the country, sharing and building on the lesson learned here in Alberta and now places outside Alberta like Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton, Hamilton, Guelph and London, Ont., and cities as far away as Saint John, N.B., are starting to see success." 5/3/19

  • YWCA Regina lauds Women of Distinction (Regina Leader Post) REGINA STORY Congrats to all and a special congratulations to Dr. Vianne Timmons, President of the University of Regina. "The YWCA Regina celebrated women’s contributions to their communities with the 38th annual Women of Distinction Awards on Thursday night." 5/3/19

  • 'A dream come true:' Staff shows off new Jim Pattison Children's Hospital (CBC) SASKATOON STORY Congrats! What a wonderful achievement for the people of Saskatchewan. "The Saskatchewan Health Authority is celebrating the official wrap-up of construction on the new Jim Pattison Children's Hospital in Saskatoon. Graham Construction completed its work on the massive 176-bed hospital on Thursday. It is scheduled to open fall 2019." 5/3/19

  • Mount Royal University announces new president, set to take the helm in May (Calgary Herald) CALGARY STORY Missed this story in February but...welcome to Calgary Dr. Rahilly. "An established leader in higher education and student diversity from Vancouver, Tim Rahilly was announced as Mount Royal University’s new president and vice-chancellor Tuesday, with plans to begin his new position May 1." 2/5/19

First Peoples of Canada

  • Saskatoon teacher's rendition of national anthem in Cree hits home for viewers (CBC) CANADIAN STORY This is so very cool. "There's never been a more exciting time to be First Nations, in Falynn Baptiste's eyes, something that struck home for her when seeing people's response to a video of her singing in Cree. Her rendition of the national anthem in Cree to begin the Fred Sasakamoose hockey tournament in Saskatoon has been shared online hundreds of times, with people praising her voice and Cree singing." 5/3/19

Life and career hacks

Uncommon knowledge

Philanthropic personalities

  • VIDEO: Warren Buffett talks about philanthropy and shares how he thinks about his legacy (Yahoo) Love this man. "Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffet discussed how his fortune will eventually be dispersed to philanthropic causes." 5/8/19

  • Jean Vanier, Canadian champion of the developmentally disabled, dead at 90 (CBC) What an amazing life. RIP Mssr. Vanier. Nous ne reverrons plus personne comme vous. "Jean Vanier, whose charity work helped improve conditions for the developmentally disabled in Canada and multiple other countries over the past half-century, has died at 90. A charity he founded, L'Arche, said Vanier died [...] in Paris after suffering from thyroid cancer." 5/7/19

  • Andrew and Nicola Forrest best own Australian donation record with $655m gift for Minderoo Foundation (The West Australian) Huge! Nice work folks. "Billionaires Andrew and Nicola Forrest have made another massive donation — this time with $655 million — to their Minderoo Foundation, bringing the couple’s total philanthropic efforts to $1.5 billion for various social and scientific causes." 5/5/19

  • The Mystery of the Millionaire Hermit (Bloomberg) The lesson here: make a will. "Tisserand tried to find Brown’s relatives [...]. Nothing came up. This wasn’t surprising given Brown’s complete lack of a digital footprint. He didn’t have credit cards, he wasn’t online, and his two major purchases—his home and his Ford truck—were made in the 1970s and ’80s. But Tisserand was able to estimate that they, along with his investments and savings account, were worth roughly $2.7 million." 4/27/19

Philanthropic controversy

  • Robert Kraft Can't Give Money Away Now (Newser) Alignment with values is a critical factor in gift acceptance. "Nonprofit rejects New England Patriots owner's donation in wake of prostitution scandal [...]. As the president of a nonprofit that give Haitian kids free education, Patrick Moynihan can't exactly afford to turn down free money. And yet, as the Boston Globe reports, that's exactly what he did when embattled New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft offered his organization $100,000." 5/5/19

  • ‘IT’S GOD'S WAY’ Woman withdraws £5,800 donation for cancer-stricken toddler after finding out she has two lesbian mums (The Sun) "Bren Marie said: 'My prayers for Callie. I was going to donate $7,600.00 (£5,769) to her fund but I found out her parents are lesbian. I've chosen to donate to St Jude due to that fact. Sorry. I'll still pray for her though but maybe it's God's way of getting your attention that she needs a mommy and a daddy, not 2 mommy's [sic]."' 5/4/19

Trends and shifts

  • Latest trending report on Nonprofit Donation Software Market is booming globally by Top key CiviCRM, Aplos, Qgiv, Salsa, Fundly, WeFunder, GoFundMe, DonorsChoose, Kickstarter, Kiva, Donately, GlobalGiving, OneCause, NeonCRM (MR Updates) Glad to see CiviCRM on the list. Sad to see such crappy AI at work with the headline grab. "The rising technology in Nonprofit Donation Software market is also depicted in this research report. Factors that are boosting the growth of the market, and giving a positive push to thrive in the global market is explained in detail." 5/6/19

  • Record amount of dollars donated by Australia’s wealthiest (PRObono Australia) "Australia’s top philanthropists are donating more than ever before, with $3.6 million the smallest gift to make it on this year’s Philanthropy 50 list, sitting at over half a million dollars more than the lowest donation in 2017." 5/6/19

  • Notes from a Remarkable Political Moment for Climate Change (New Yorker) Can it be true? Have we finally turned the corner on this one? "On Wednesday, the British House of Commons, led by the Conservative Party, voted to declare that the planet was in a 'climate emergency.' The day before, a CNN poll found that, in the United States, Democratic voters care more about climate change than about any other issue in the upcoming Presidential election: more than health care, more than gun control, more than free college, more than impeaching the President. Having followed the issue closely since I wrote my first book about climate change, thirty years ago, I think I can say that we’re in a remarkable moment, when, after years of languishing, climate concern is suddenly and explosively rising to the top of the political agenda. Maybe, though not certainly, it is rising fast enough that we’ll get real action." 5/1/19

  • Setting the Stage: A New Series on the Public Value of Arts and Culture in Canada (The Philanthropist) CANADIAN STORY Brilliant. Important. Overdue. "Our long engagement with arts organizations has provoked a number of observations and questions over the years. These have been driven, in part, by our awareness that there is a relative lack of private philanthropic resources and capacity to address the significance and the complexity of how the arts support community and create public value." 4/29/19

Reports and studies

Large gifts

  • Baylor announces $100M gift, largest in university’s history (Daily Journal) This an uncharacteristically large anonymous gift. "Baylor University has announced a $100 million donation that administrators say is the largest gift in school history. A Baylor statement says the donor wishes to remain anonymous." 5/6/19

  • Gene & Jerry Jones Make $7.5 Million Donation To Build Cancer Care Facility (Jack FM) "Gene and Jerry Jones made a donation to help not only those fighting cancer but their families as well. The two donated $7.5 million to help create a Hope Lodge facility in Dallas. " 5/6/19

  • McKendree U receives record donation (St. Louis Business Journal) "McKendree University has received a $6 million donation, the largest in the school's [history]. The gift is from John Bailey of Dallas, a longtime trustee of the university and a 1976 graduate." 5/6/19

  • Rollins College trustee donates $10M for renovations (Biz Journals Orlando) "Mills Memorial Hall at Rollins College soon will get a new name, thanks to a major donation by one of the college's trustees. The Winter Park-based institution got a $10 million donation from Kathleen W. Rollins, who currently is executive director of the Gary W. Rollins Foundation. " 5/6/19

  • Total helps rebuild Notre-Dame de Paris with a €100 million donation (World Pipelines) "The day after the fire, the Total Group announced that it would be making an exceptional donation of €100 million to the French Heritage Foundation to help rebuild the cathedral, which has long been emblematic of Paris and France." 5/6/19

  • Montreal to welcome a new city museum: major benefactor donates $15 million (The Suburban) MONTREAL STORY "The McCord Stewart Museum [...] announced that La Fondation Emmanuelle Gattuso had pledged to donate the extraordinary sum of $15 million towards the project. It is the largest single private monetary donation to a Quebec museum in over 30 years." 5/5/19

  • Investor Donates $9M to Harvard, MIT for Researching Cannabis (Weedmaps) CANADIAN CONTENT "A successful New York-based entrepreneur, who made a small fortune investing in Canada's booming legal marijuana industry, is making what is believed to be the largest private donation to date in support of independent scientific research on cannabis. Bob Broderick is giving $9 million to Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), both in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to study cannabis and its effects on the [brain]." 5/5/19

  • LaSalle Park to be transformed with $50 million donation (WIVB) "Another section of Buffalo's waterfront is about to be transformed thanks to a $50 million dollar donation from the founder of the Buffalo Bills. Planners from the University at Buffalo showed off designs for what will be a vastly improved LaSalle Park, and will be called Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park, thanks to the donation from his foundation." 5/3/19

  • Quinnipiac introduces Judy Olian as president; announces $15M donation (New Haven Register) Great way to introduce a new president. I like it! "[Chairman Bill] Weldon and his wife, Barbara, have donated $15 million, the largest gift in the university’s history, to support the school’s vision of the future." 5/2/19

  • San Francisco billionaire gives $30M to study homelessness (AP) I heart this gift. Makes me like Salesforce even more. "A San Francisco billionaire is donating $30 million to the University of California, San Francisco, to research root causes of homelessness and potential solutions. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, a city native, has embraced homelessness as a philanthropic cause, pumping millions into a 2018 city measure to tax wealthy companies to pay for homeless services." 5/1/19

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