Supporting an active, vibrant, and healthy community.
Our donations support projects that promote active lifestyles, enhance education opportunities, and nurture strong connections within our community. These programs and initiatives make the Bow Valley a better place for people to live, raise families, and enjoy mountain life.
We will fund initiatives that:
• Create opportunities to embrace our mountain culture, education, and recreation
• Make our community a positive place to build a career, live, and raise a family
• Positively impact our social service and community networks
• Improve the visitor experience
• Enhance infrastructure to beautify public areas and promote active transportation.
Our Impact
Since 2013, the Wim and Nancy Pauw Foundation has invested over $23,775,000
in the Bow Valley communities.
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Student well-being is foundational to learning.
We are pleased to continue our commitment to @crpschools, helping sustain and strengthen essential wrap-around mental wellness services across the division, including:
• divisional psychology;
• occupational therapy; and
• speech-language supports that assist hundreds of students each year 🧠
These supports ensure students and families have access to professional care, early intervention, and the stability needed to succeed 🩵
“Without the Pauw Foundation funding, CRPS would not be able to offer most programming with the majority of programs and all of the mental health and wrap-around support would be eliminated.” - Debbie McKibbin, Superintendent of Schools at CRPS 📚
📸 Canadian Rockies Public Schools
Outdoor learning is a core part of the Canadian Rockies Public Schools curriculum and central to our mandate of supporting an active, vibrant, and healthy community 🌲
Through Outdoor Pursuits, WimWE, WILD, athletics, and programming through the Canadian Rockies Outdoor Learning Centre, students build confidence, resilience, leadership, and connection to the Bow Valley.
More than 1,000 students participate in outdoor experiential learning each year, gaining skills that extend well beyond the classroom 👐
We are pleased that our donation helps make these programs possible by supporting the staff who bring them to life and helping ensure new and expanded nutrition and outdoor learning opportunities are accessible to all students 🧗🏽
By helping remove barriers to participation, we support students in staying active, having fun, and feeling more connected to their school and community.
📸 @outdoor_learning_centre
Philanthropy is essential for an inclusive, thriving Bow Valley.
Our Executive Director Cathy Geisler was featured on Banff Canmore Foundation’s podcast “Between Peaks” 🏔️
Cathy shared the story of the Foundation (including Wim Pauw’s journey from Holland to Banff), the importance of philanthropy and how we work with @banffcanmorefoundation 🩵
We`re very proud 2,000 students in Canadian Rockies Public Schools benefit each year from support through the Wim & Nancy Pauw Foundation.
Our donations help sustain:
• 1,014 students in Outdoor Experiential Learning🌲
• 993 students, Kindergarten to Grade 8, in Outdoor Pursuits
• 661 students, Grades 7 to 12, in athletics ⛹️
• 434 students receive wrap-around wellness supports
• 110 students in WimWE and 35 students in the WILD program 🚣
We love funding opportunities that reach students in the Bow Valley throughout their school years.
Pond hockey brings people together through a simple, shared love of the game.
Run entirely by volunteers, Bow Valley Pond Hockey provides a welcoming recreational space where players of different skill levels and backgrounds can get on the ice and be part of the community 🏒
Our support helps cover ice rental costs, keeping the league affordable and accessible so more people can participate ⛸️
By reducing barriers and supporting volunteer led programming, the league continues to encourage active lifestyles and make recreation more accessible across the Bow Valley.
We believe strong communities grow when young people have the chance to get involved, feel included, and stay active.
Since 2014, we have supported local efforts to make sport more accessible for youth across the Bow Valley through the True Sport Youth Fund 🚴
Our financial support helps community recreation organizations cover essential needs such as coaching certification, safety education, and equipment, so more young people can participate ⚾
In 2025, 19 local clubs and associations received $80,000 to support inclusive, community-based sport.
Applications are now open, and the deadline is February 22, 2026.
Community is built by connecting people together, and that is exactly what @cyancanmore continues to create across the Bow Valley.
We are proud of our renewed two-year funding commitment supporting CYAN’s work to foster connection and belonging for young adults 🤝
Here is a look at what is coming up this February:
• Poetry workshop ✍️
• Winter yoga sessions 🧘🏾♀️
• Intro to cross country skate ski 🎿
• How to create your own soap 🧼
From wellness to the arts, CYAN’s programming strengthens the social fabric of the Bow Valley and reminds us why this is such a great place to live.
A recent CBC story features an 11-year-old from Mînî Thnî who first learned to cross-country ski through Spirit North, has already competed at the Alberta Cup, and will soon head to the Alberta Winter Games to compete in biathlon ❄
Stories like this show what is possible when young people have access to opportunity, mentorship, and support, and show the impact of Spirit North’s work with Indigenous youth across Canada ⛷️
We`re proud to provide @spiritnorthxc with ongoing funding support.
📸 Spirit North program participants
