Industry scholarship fund a worthy idea in need of help

A planned golf tournament to be hosted by iTaxiworkers in August did not happen, due to lack of players, I am told.

The outing was to be a fund-raiser for the moribund Toronto Taxi Industry Scholarship Foundation.

I wanted to participate, tossed in a few prizes, agreed to sponsor a hole but as circumstances happened, my wife had picked that week to be on vacation on the shore of Lake Huron hundreds of kilometers away. I could not be in two places at once, and stay married.

Apparently, iTW is/was thinking it could revive this foundation and get the money raised to date to work as it was intended.

All (and I mean all) the money raised a couple of years ago when a group, including me, tried to get it going has been sitting in a bank account, earning interest.

A review of what happened (or didn’t happen) is in order.

It started with a good idea originated by cab driver Ray Sabatin, who incorporated the foundation on his own.

Then a group was formed to be the Board of Directors and we applied for a charitable tax number from the Province and the Federal Governments to allow contributions to be tax deductible.

Money was raised from a couple of events, pending tax-exempt status.

Then problems started, beginning with the foundation being told the wording of the Articles of Incorporation was flawed.

So, with advice from Federal authorities, the foundation amended the Articles of Incorporation.

But this wording was apparently unacceptable to the Provincial authorities.

Months of letters to both the Feds and the Province trying to resolve the wording impasse followed.

We were willing and eager to do whatever was needed to get things moving, but I tell you flatly and without reservation that the problem was not with us Ð it was with the two levels of government that could not agree on the time of day.

As a result, the Feds and the Province cast aside a lot of kids who deserve and need financial support to further their educations.

Yes, I am very bitter about this.

(I have all those letters on file, should anyone care to see them Ð they are a dismal exercise in frustration, at least for me Ð I can’t speak for the others involved in the foundation.)

There were other problems.

We wanted to find an accountant willing to do the foundation books on a pro bono basis. The idea was that we were all kicking in our time and efforts free, (in fact it was costing all of us a LOT of time and money) so a little good PR and a good heart for not much effort would not be too much to ask.

Apparently it was too much to ask and no qualified bookkeeper or accountant stepped up to the plate for us.

(It was even suggested that my wife, who does have a CMA designation, act as the foundation’s accountant. This did NOT happen. The conflict of interest is obvious. She had absolutely no intention of having her CMA designation stripped away for such an obvious and gross violation of all of her ethical and professional standards. She was horrified at the suggestion. She was right, of course.)

Ditto for finding free qualified legal help. I have long suspected a lawyer familiar with these kind of organizations would have solved many of our problems quickly Ð but again, legal fees and accountant fees would have drained the foundation resources in a big hurry, soÉ

Frankly, I and the others who started with such good intentions, just kind of threw up our hands in frustration (and for me, more than a little disgust with the governments of our fair land.)

I think (I haven’t seen the bank statements in years) there is $17 or $18,000 just sitting in that bank account gathering dust.

Suggestions have been raised that we just fold up the corporation and hand the money over to some deserving charity, like the Hospital for Sick Children, and be done with it.

I’m not sure this is the right thing to do Ð the money was raised for a good, and needed purpose.

I’d like to see the organization revitalized. If iTW can and will take over the responsibility, and get the money already raised, as well as new money, into the hands of kids who can use it, more power to them.

But, I have a sneaking suspicion that they will run into many of the same problems the original group ran into Ð like, let’s call a spade a spade, the pissing contest between the Province and the Feds.

I’ll also be a bit controversial here, but I also kind of suspect (with no proof whatsoever) that many potential sponsors, for ideological reasons, will be hesitant about supporting any iTW project even though the basic idea of getting scholarships and/or bursaries flowing is a good one.

One thought to help resolve this latter potential problem might be to have an independent Board with the iTW strongly represented, but with active participation from other industry factions.

I just don’t know. So I throw the question into your ballpark, my readers. What would you do with the money already raised? Would you try to revive the foundation? Would you just get rid of the headache and give the money to a worthwhile group? Which one?

Do you have other ideas? I am totally open to your suggestions. I suspect others on the foundation board are as well.

Do get in touch.