A Message from Our Executive Director
Oceanside comes alive in the Summer. Markets everywhere and music in the park, festivals and fundraisers, volunteers out in every kind of weather. It is a season when you can see local generosity for neighbours and visitors, and the many ways our community shows up for eachother.
Through June and July, PQCF delivered our 2026 Community Fund grants in person. Meeting the staff and volunteers behind each project, in the places where the work happens, tells us far more than any application form can.
It has also been wonderful to see all the Neighbourhood Small Grant projects popping up all summer in backyards, parks, and community halls from Lasqueti to Bowser to Coombs.
Behind the scenes, we have been putting new infrastructure and tools in place. Not the most exciting newsletter item, but it is the work that lets us serve people better. We look forward to rolling these resources out to fundholders and grantees over the coming year.
Looking to Fall, Neighbourhood Small Grants opens again in September, we are excited to be sharing our 2025 Impact Report, we will have some educational events in October, and an Annual Community Gathering around National Philanthropy Day in November. Be sure to stay tuned on our social media and in your inbox for more information on everything still to come!
We are grateful to every person who makes this work possible, from the donors who give to the volunteers who show up to the organizations that carry it out. Thank you for trusting us to be part of it.
Neighbourhood Small Grants
Got a great idea to bring your neighbours together? Our next NSG round runs September 15 through October 31. Grants of up to $500 support resident-led projects that build connection and community capacity.
Welcoming Three New Funds
We’re honoured to welcome three new funds:
The Pat McLeod Arts & Culture Fund will help strengthen arts and culture opportunities across the Oceanside region.
The Arrowsmith Search and Rescue Fund will help sustain the vital search and rescue services our community relies on.
The Sheila McGiverin Legacy Fund for the Arts at TOSH creates a lasting tribute supporting arts programming at The Old School House Arts Centre.
Upcoming Events
We have a few events coming up related to legacy giving and charitable giving. Stay Tuned! Event details coming soon.
National Philanthropy Day – Annual Community Meeting
Save the date: November 16, 2026! We will be hosting our Annual Community Meeting in celebration of National Philanthropy Day this Fall. Stay tuned for details on how to join us in celebrating local philanthropy.
Make a Will Week Events
This October, we are hosting two events as part of Make a Will Week: one for community members to learn about incorporating charitable giving into their estate and financial planning, and one for professional advisors on how to incorporate charitable giving into their clients’ portfolios. Stay tuned for dates and details!
Interested in supporting PQCF through events? Partner with us this Fall!
If you’re a local business interested in sponsoring one of our Fall events or gatherings, we’d love to talk — reach out to Charlene at [email protected]
Nonprofit Community of Practice
We are excited to launch a new program this Fall: PQCF’s Nonprofit Community of Practice. This idea came directly from local nonprofits this past year, who told us they wanted a space to learn from each other, share resources, and connect as a sector.
Four times a year, we will bring nonprofit staff and board members together for hands-on, workshop-style gatherings — building practical skills, sparking collaboration, and strengthening the nonprofit sector across Oceanside.
If you’re staff or a volunteer with an Oceanside nonprofit and interested in joining us, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to Charlene to learn more or get added to our list.
2026 Community Fund Grantee Stories
Trillium Community Garden Day
The residents of Trillium Lodge built this community. Then they moved into care, and the community slowly stopped seeing them.
A $1,500 Community Fund grant is helping change that. One garden day, side by side, with the Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation.
TOSH Talks and Community Learning Technology Upgrade
If you can’t read the slides, you can’t follow the talk. A $3,000 Community Fund grant is bringing a 75″ 4K display, hybrid conferencing and a discussion whiteboard to The Old School House Arts Centre, making TOSH Talks accessible for everyone.
Interested in supporting more initiatives like this?
Our 2026-2027 Board of Directors
Meet the team guiding PQCF this year. Our board brings decades of experience across finance, healthcare, law, social services, and business, along with a shared commitment to the Oceanside communities we serve.
We’re glad to welcome new directors this year. Watch for our spotlight series, where each board member shares what drew them to PQCF.
Standing With Communities Facing Wildfire
Wildfires are burning across British Columbia’s Interior, with more than 100 fires province wide and over 20,000 people forced from their homes. Our thoughts are with the families who have been displaced, the first responders working around the clock, and the communities in the North Okanagan, South Okanagan Similkameen, and Thompson Nicola regions living with real loss and uncertainty. That includes Okanagan Indian Band communities, who have been significantly affected.
Community foundations are rooted in the places they serve. Our colleagues across the Interior are on the ground right now, working with local partners to get help where it is needed most, first for immediate relief and then through the long recovery that follows. If you are looking for a trusted local way to help, these funds are accepting donations (Donations go directly to each foundation and are granted locally in the region it serves):
- Community Foundation North Okanagan, Wildfire Response 2026 Fund
- Community Foundation of the South Okanagan Similkameen, SOS Wildfire Response Fund
- BC Interior Community Foundation, Natural Disaster Relief Fund
Closer to Home
We hope we never face what the Interior is facing, but hoping is not a plan.
That is why PQCF holds a Climate Disaster Support Fund. It is built ahead of need, so that if we are faced with a fire, flood, or climate disaster,, we are not starting a fundraiser in the middle of an emergency. We can move within days, get resources to the local organizations already on the ground, and stay with the recovery long after the headlines move on.
Building this fund now is one of the most practical things we can do for each other.
This is part of our quarterly e-newsletter. Add [email protected] to your safe senders list to stay in the loop.
You can unsubscribe anytime, but we hope you’ll stay with us on this journey of generosity and impact!
Parksville-Qualicum Community Foundation
Growing a legacy of giving for Oceanside.