Oakville Community Foundation Announces Three Award Recipients for Alexander and Bernice DeMaio Education Fund

Oakville, Ont., June 23, 2020 – Today the Oakville Community Foundation announced its three award recipients for the inaugural Alexander and Bernice DeMaio Education Fund. 

The Alexander and Bernice DeMaio Education Fund is awarded to students in Oakville who are enrolled in post-secondary education. Each recipient receives $1,500, given directly to their post-secondary educational institution of choice. 

The three students were chosen out of 46 applications and are attending nearby schools, including Sheridan College, McMaster University and the University of Toronto. They are also in a variety of programs ranging from business, to science to the arts.

“We congratulate these students and wish them luck in their post-secondary educational endeavours,” said Wendy Rinella, CEO of the Oakville Community Foundation. “This was a difficult situation given the current pandemic, however we were thrilled to give students a readily accessible platform to apply for educational awards, particularly as schools were closed.”

Alexander and Bernice DeMaio made one of the original donations to The Foundation 25 years ago which continues to make a difference in the lives of community members years after their passing.

The awardees all applied for the award through The Foundation’s new Community Education Awards Hub, introduced in January 2020 as a way to modernize and simplify applying and running scholarship, bursary and awards programs. Over 530 students accessed and utilized the Awards Hub.

The Awards Hub brings together over $330,000, in educational awards available to local Oakville students. It also serves Oakville-area organizations, streamlining their efforts and providing efficient access and management of their awards programs. 

Organizations who are interested in using The Community Education Awards Hub, free of charge, for their educational awards management can contact education@theocf.org to get started.

The Awards Hub can be accessed at www.awardshub.ca. For more information please go to https://www.theocf.org/wp2021/initiative/community-education-awards-hub/.

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Oakville Community Foundation

The Foundation is a registered charity with over 25 years of experience Building Community Through Philanthropy. The Foundation has granted $46 million to charities since 1994 and supports investments of over $110 million in charitable assets. We welcome families, businesses and residents into our community and give everyone the opportunity to be a philanthropist. The Foundation is one of the largest members of a national network of more than 190 Canadian community foundations.

Media Contact

Sarah McPherson
Director – Philanthropy & Communications
sarah@theocf.org | 905-844-3562 x. 302