SACKVILLE, N.B. – A family with strong ties to Sackville has been honoured for their unwavering support of conservation projects in the province.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) recently paid tribute to
Canadian charity Crabtree Foundation has surpassed a milestone of $1 million in donations to Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), supporting their conservation efforts.
Crabtree Foundation president Sandra Crabtree and her husband Gerald MacGarvie, who met while attending Mount Allison University, were on hand with other family members for a special ceremony Aug. 14 at the Johnson’s Mills Shorebird Reserve and Interpretive Centre. During the ceremony, NCC officials unveiled a stone monument commemorating their ongoing support.
“Over the past 13 years the Crabtree Foundation has been one of our leading donors,” said NCC regional vice president John Foley. “From project to project, year to year, it hasn’t changed; they’ve always been there for us when we’ve had difficult projects and for that we’ll always be grateful.”
Foley noted funding from the Crabtree Foundation has been critical for the completion of a wide range of NCC projects throughout New Brunswick.
“And those range from the Northern part of New Brunswick, the Acadian Peninsula, the Miscou, right down to Grand Manan, from the Miramichi watershed right to where we are today, the Johnson’s Mills Shorebird Reserve and Interpretive Centre.
“Your family’s commitment to conservation is inspiring and an important legacy to New Brunswickers and all Canadians.”
Crabtree said she and her husband have an emotional connection to New Brunswick.
“First of all, the Nature Conservancy, New Brunswick has our love ... Gerald and I together share the same interest and love and concern; and I think about my grandfather, who, in a letter he wrote when he started the foundation, hoped it would be there to do good and that was just before he died in 1956. And that’s all I hope in my heart, that we’re doing good.”
MacGarvie, who grew up in Sackville, said he’s been impressed with NCC staff and the work they do in New Brunswick throughout the years.
“They really work at it, and they’ve accomplished a lot here,” he said of Johnson’s Mills. “This is a major attraction. It’s contributed very significantly to the environment but it’s also a major tourist attraction.”
About the Crabtree Foundation
The Crabtree Foundation is a private family foundation established in Montreal by Harold Crabtree. It subsequently moved to Ottawa where its operations have been based for the last 30 years. The foundation’s capital, the source of its grants, has been donated by family members. Its activities represent the philanthropic interests of the Sandra Crabtree and Gerald MacGarvie family.
Funding from the Crabtree Foundation has supported conservation of over 7,400 acres (3,000 hectares) of land, including:
– The full protection of the Grand Manan Migratory Bird Sanctuary;
– Some of last remaining old Acadian forest in New Brunswick;
– Habitat for migratory birds at Miscou Island and Johnson’s Mills; and
– NCC’s ongoing projects near Saint John at the Musquash Estuary, NCC’s largest nature reserve in Atlantic Canada and the only fully functioning river estuary still undeveloped on the Bay of Fundy.
