Matthewson & Co., formally known as the Sustainability Project, has launched an annual program of bursaries in order to help people in small communities start a new chapter in their lives.
In total, there were three $500 bursaries offered to individuals in communities with a population of 5,000 or less in Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan.
The first bursary would go to someone who was graduating high school and planned to enter post-secondary education. The second would go to a “non-traditional” student—someone who had graduated high school a while ago and wished to return to or begin post-secondary education. Lastly, the third one would go to someone who was graduating high school and wanted to start their own business.
All the applicants were required to write an essay that gave details like the person’s career aspirations, but mainly, the essay was supposed to focus on community and volunteer experience. This was in keeping with Matthewson and Co.’s ideals about building community. They weren’t supposed to be scholarships focused on academics, but rather, the individual’s involvement and service in their community.
Anna Beaulieu, who helped create the bursary application requirements and screened the various applicants, explained that the bursaries were in line with everything that the company stands for.
“At Matthewson and Company it’s our…mission to build community, so we believe that giving back to the communities…is important.”
Matthewson & Co. is a business based in Carlyle which is focused on helping small communities thrive. It was started by Lorri Matthewson in order to fill a gap that was present in supporting small communities. Most of the time, communities have great potential, but aren’t able to easily access the resources they needed to succeed.
Therefore, Matthewson & Co. aims to provide support for small communities through various practical services such as asset management, strategic planning, grant writing, and community economic development planning. Basically, they do the things a community economic development officer would do and help small population communities reach their full potential through proper planning and expertise.
In congruence with this vision, Matthewson & Co. decided they would give back to small communities by creating the bursaries which would help individuals in pursuing their careers. Lorri Matthewson, who had the idea of doing the bursaries, explained one of her main motivations for offering the bursaries was that she felt they should really sow back into the community.
“We’ve had a lot of really positive success in the last … several years … we’ve been really, really busy—crazy busy—and we have been for a while, so for us it was a way of giving back what we could.”
Unfortunately, no one applied for the bursary for a high school student aiming to start a business, but Matthewson & Co. plans on doubling this bursary next year in order to hopefully get more applicants. For the other bursaries, the winners will be announced on July 15.
