Waterloo — The Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation along with the Cambridge and North Dumfries Community Foundation have been named bronze award winners for excellence in communications by the 2009 Wilmer Shields Rich Awards Program. Sponsored by the Council on Foundations, the awards program recognizes effective communications efforts to increase public awareness of foundations and corporate giving programs. The two community foundations received the award in the Special Report category for their collaboration on the second Waterloo Region’s Vital Signs report released on October 7, 2008. The report is an annual community checkup that measures key areas critical to Waterloo Region’s quality of life. The inaugural Waterloo Region’s Vital Signs report won a gold award in the same category last year.

The awards will be presented during the Council on Foundations’ 60th Annual Conference, May 4-6, 2009 in Atlanta.

“It is a tremendous honour to be recognized two years in a row for our commitment to providing impactful and thought-provoking communication pieces for our community,” says Rosemary Smith, CEO of The Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation. Adds Jane Neath, Executive Director of the Cambridge & North Dumfries Community Foundation, “There are 106 awards being presented by this prestigious awards program and we are one of four Canadian foundations being recognized – what an incredible accomplishment!”

Entries to the awards program included annual or biennial reports, magazines and periodicals, special reports, public information campaigns and websites. This year, 199 entries were submitted to the awards program.

For more information on Council on Foundations visit www.cof.org.

Waterloo Region’s Vital Signs is an annual community checkup through which The Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation and the Cambridge & North Dumfries Community Foundation measure the vitality of our Region, identify significant trends, and invite community supporters to assign grades in 11 key areas critical to Waterloo Region’s quality of life.

A comprehensive version of Waterloo Region’s Vital Signs with links to the original data sources is available online at www.wrvitalsigns.ca.