Established in 2021, the Cornerstone Scholarship was created in memory of the late Carl Vanderspek by his loving friends, Jeff Mooney and Suzanne Bolton.

Carl was a leading Canadian businessman and philanthropist. Most importantly, he was a wonderful husband to his beloved wife and partner, Marg Hope. Carl was also a great friend to his friends and a great leader in the businesses he built and ran and the communities where he lived, worked, and played.

Suzanne Bolton and Jeff Mooney, also extraordinarily successful businesspeople, philanthropists, and community and business leaders, approached mutual friends on Salt Spring Island, Donald Mackenzie and Luis Araujo, to discuss creating and managing a scholarship to honour their friend, Carl, to support the youth in the Gulf Islands and School District 64.

Jeff and Suzanne were clear in their memory of their close friend that they wanted to support and help create the next generation of smart, hard-working, good friends, community and business leaders.

Recognizing that there are just those young people in the Gulf Islands with tremendous potential and many remarkable qualities, some may face financial challenges, making post-secondary education less accessible. The Cornerstone Scholarship was established to remove those economic barriers and support those who will benefit from the power of post-secondary education.