About the Foundation
History
In 1970, Father Eusebe Menard suggests to Fathers Marcel Paquette and Roger Ouimet, both members of the Society of the Holy Apostles, to create a foundation to meet the needs of his apostolate in Latin America. Three laypersons answered the call. They were Léo Laporte, a businessman from Montréal, Gérard Gauthier, senior civil servant at Place-des-Arts, and Roch Sainte-Marie, former bank manager. They became the first administrators of the Father-Eusebe-Menard Foundation.
In the beginning, publicity was limited to a single sheet of writing paper containing a short message from Father Menard with photos of Latin America. This bulletin was sent to a list of benefactors twice a year, at Ester and Christmas.
Later, in 1981, the Foundation published its first issue of La Obra (The Work) that was sent three times a year. It was a publication of six pages describing to the benefactors the different humanitarian and evangelical projects that their donations realized. In 1996, the name of the publication became Mission-Action and its format, at first a 12 page brochure, is presently that of a small newspaper.
In 1977, the Association of Masses of the Missionaries of the Holy Apostles, is established in order to answer the growing demand for masses from the benefactors. The bulletin of the Association is sent twice a year to the benefactors for the Marian novena and the All Saints novena. the mass intentions are sent to the Missionnaries of the Holy Apostles (M.S.A.) and help to meet the needs of our seminaries and the formation of future priests.
Each year, a gathering of benefactors is organized in order to inform them about the activities and projects of the Foundation. In the beginning, this event was a supper-conference during which Father Menard was the guest speaker that attracted sometimes more than 900 guests. This annual meeting is now a brunch during which we listen to different persons responsible for humanitarian and evangelical projects.
In 2009, the Father-Eusebe-Menard Fondation abridged its name and became the Father-Menard Fondation.
In the beginning, the Administation council was made up of 21 members. Since then, this number has diminished and is now made up of seven members. From the beginning, there has always been a M.S.A. as member of the Administration council.
As president, we have had : Léo Laporte (1970-1977), Édouard Deslauriers (1977-1985), Pat di Stasio (1985-1995), Jean-Paul Descôteaux (1995-2000), and Pierre Seccareccia (2000- )
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