Looking back over five decades, I can hardly believe where the time has gone. I arrived on the Lower North Shore of Quebec in the summer of 1959, and by 1961 established what would become the Quebec-Labrador Foundation. I saw communities in need of service, and knew of young people who would welcome the opportunity to spend time in these special places.
I knew where I wanted the organization to go. It has. Both in scope and geography, the QLF has moved in ways that I could have never dreamed.
QLF has always been about people and community, service and leadership, the excitement of remote places, and the stewardship of natural and cultural resources. As I look at the “next 50” and think about those who will succeed our wonderful leadership team, I strongly believe the Atlantic Region still needs a QLF as does a bigger world beyond it.
Over 2,600 volunteers and interns and 600 international fellows have served the QLF cause. And we have disbursed over 1,200 scholarships to young and aspiring men and women from coastal communities on the Quebec North Shore, the Maritimes, Newfoundland and Labrador. But that only begins to tell the story.
QLF is about investing in leadership and always will be. The methods and means of how we do so will be left to the creative individuals who carry on what we began. Searching out and supporting those who will have the courage, experience, and information necessary to change their community, their nation, and their world for the better will give us a relevance that will never go out of favor.
The Ven. Robert A. Bryan
Founding Chairman
June 2008