Past Community Partnerships - NL
George Street United Church (GSUC)
Kitchen Upgrade
Back in 2008, Fry Family Foundation provided funds for George Street United Church to convert two electric commercial stoves to propane stoves, and upgrade service to fire regulation standards because of this conversion. These stoves are located in the Soup Kitchen at the church, which was opened in the Jimmy Pratt Memorial Outreach Centre. Since its inception in January 2002 the Soup Kitchen has fed over 30,000 people in need in the downtown area of St. John’s, without missing a Friday. Through the generous support of sponsors and volunteers, they provide a hot, nutritious meal to 120-140 people weekly and a hot breakfast every Monday Morning for the winter months. This partnership was also special to the Foundation as Solomon Fry, father of our Co-Founder Darryl Fry, was a member of the GSUC choir in 1933.
MUN Centre for Social Enterprise Project
The Centre for Social Enterprise (CSE) is a strategic initiative of MUN, capitalizing on the strong community focus in NL and the commitment of its citizens to social innovation. Whereas traditional entrepreneurship and enterprise development emphasizes the development of technology focused, high-profit potential businesses, the CSE seeks to incubate and strengthen organizations with strong social mandates, and help to ensure their sustainability in a challenging economic environment. A collaboration initially between the Faculty of Business Administration and the School of Social Work, the CSE acts as a catalyst to nurture social entrepreneurs and strengthen social enterprises in the province. Fry Family Foundation made a 4-year commitment, commencing in 2019 to fund 20 Social Enterprise Internships for MUN graduate students. Through these placements, the goal is to develop leadership capacity in students to engage in social entrepreneurship, and create opportunities for students to learn about social enterprises.
Like many churches, GSUC has an ageing and declining congregation. The GSUC advisory council identified several potential social enterprise opportunities to help generate additional revenue and to stay connected to the wider community. They hired two graduate students in the fall 2019 semester who were funded by FFF: MBA student Tarek Grisha and PhD student Modeline Lohnjohn. The students developed market surveys and implemented them in the area surrounding the church. Based on the survey results, they provided recommendations to the GSUC on how to proceed with their business ideas. In the 2020 winter semester, the students developed a feasibility study and recommendations on one of the business ideas, submitted a final report, and made a presentation to the Board of Directors for consideration. This Multi-disciplinary Internship Placement provided a real-world experiential learning opportunity for students, strengthening connections with Memorial and the community, as well as stimulating new ideas for revenue generation at the GSUC. Learn more about Modeline Longjohn's Graduate Student Internship experiences.
Back in 2008, Fry Family Foundation provided funds for George Street United Church to convert two electric commercial stoves to propane stoves, and upgrade service to fire regulation standards because of this conversion. These stoves are located in the Soup Kitchen at the church, which was opened in the Jimmy Pratt Memorial Outreach Centre. Since its inception in January 2002 the Soup Kitchen has fed over 30,000 people in need in the downtown area of St. John’s, without missing a Friday. Through the generous support of sponsors and volunteers, they provide a hot, nutritious meal to 120-140 people weekly and a hot breakfast every Monday Morning for the winter months. This partnership was also special to the Foundation as Solomon Fry, father of our Co-Founder Darryl Fry, was a member of the GSUC choir in 1933.
MUN Centre for Social Enterprise Project
The Centre for Social Enterprise (CSE) is a strategic initiative of MUN, capitalizing on the strong community focus in NL and the commitment of its citizens to social innovation. Whereas traditional entrepreneurship and enterprise development emphasizes the development of technology focused, high-profit potential businesses, the CSE seeks to incubate and strengthen organizations with strong social mandates, and help to ensure their sustainability in a challenging economic environment. A collaboration initially between the Faculty of Business Administration and the School of Social Work, the CSE acts as a catalyst to nurture social entrepreneurs and strengthen social enterprises in the province. Fry Family Foundation made a 4-year commitment, commencing in 2019 to fund 20 Social Enterprise Internships for MUN graduate students. Through these placements, the goal is to develop leadership capacity in students to engage in social entrepreneurship, and create opportunities for students to learn about social enterprises.
Like many churches, GSUC has an ageing and declining congregation. The GSUC advisory council identified several potential social enterprise opportunities to help generate additional revenue and to stay connected to the wider community. They hired two graduate students in the fall 2019 semester who were funded by FFF: MBA student Tarek Grisha and PhD student Modeline Lohnjohn. The students developed market surveys and implemented them in the area surrounding the church. Based on the survey results, they provided recommendations to the GSUC on how to proceed with their business ideas. In the 2020 winter semester, the students developed a feasibility study and recommendations on one of the business ideas, submitted a final report, and made a presentation to the Board of Directors for consideration. This Multi-disciplinary Internship Placement provided a real-world experiential learning opportunity for students, strengthening connections with Memorial and the community, as well as stimulating new ideas for revenue generation at the GSUC. Learn more about Modeline Longjohn's Graduate Student Internship experiences.