In 2016, the Township of Centre Wellington received a very generous gift from Jack R. MacDonald in the amount of $3.436 M that must be used for the long term positive impact in the former Village of Elora. Council approved $1.805 M to be used towards enhancement of Downtown Elora in the means of reconstructing the Victoria Street Bridge for pedestrians, and the public realm improvements to West Mill Street.
Council determined to use the remaining $1.509 M towards exciting projects/ideas proposed by the community.
26 applications received for evaluation by the Community Services Advisory Committee totaled $6,029,591 in funds requested from the MacDonald Trust fund. The committee diligently worked on the evaluation and have put forth a schedule to allocate $1,509,000 in funding to 8 projects/programs as submitted for evaluation, those being:
| Elora Rockers/Lions Club for Bissel Park updates, multi-use surface | $350,000 |
| Elora Centre for the Arts (ECFTA)/Riverfest for performing arts and cultural centre | $100,000 |
| ECFTA for accessible washroom upgrades, new windows, front entrance upgrade and artist residence | $380,000 |
| CW Skatepark association for a skatepark to be located at the Elora Community Centre | $203,296 |
| CW Community Foundations for a Community Endowment Fund | $392,509 |
| Bungalow 55 for a green house, garden shed and growing tables for a community garden | $23,195 |
| KIPP for water service and electric service to KIPP oven in Bissel park | $35,000 |
| Elora Sculptures for a sculpture to recognize JR MacDonald legacy | $25,000 |
