Calgary’s 30th celebration honoured the Wenzel family as Outstanding Philanthropic Family. Congratulations.
A city shows what it values by what it stops to thank. National Philanthropy Day is a day set aside each November 15 to recognize the people, businesses and groups who give their time, money and skill to their communities. In Calgary, the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Calgary and Area chapter marks it with its Generosity of Spirit Awards, and this year’s celebration on Wednesday, November 4, was the 30th.
One of the awards went to Cal and Edith Wenzel and their family, given the Outstanding Philanthropic Family award. This column is a thank you to them, and a few words on what a day like this is for.
In Cal and Edith Wenzel’s words
Cal and Edith shared a statement for us here.
“We’ve always believed that when you build a business in a community, you have a responsibility to give something back. Whether through donations, sponsorships or simply volunteering your time, every contribution makes a difference. We hope other entrepreneurs share that commitment and that the next generation of Calgary families continues the tradition of giving back to the community that helped them succeed.”
Cal and Edith Wenzel
They aren’t only asking for thanks. They’re asking others who build businesses here to give back too, and the next generation of Calgary families to keep the tradition going.
National Philanthropy Day in Calgary, 2026, at a glance
- AFP Calgary and Area holds the 30th anniversary National Philanthropy Day celebration on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, at the Hyatt Regency Calgary, according to the chapter.
- The chapter says National Philanthropy Day is observed each year on November 15.
- AFP Calgary’s 2026 recipient list shows STARS and I CAN FOR KIDS co-nominated Cal and Edith Wenzel for the philanthropic family award.
- The University of Calgary renamed a Foothills campus building in May 2022 to honour more than $20 million from the Cal Wenzel Family Foundation.
- Kids Cancer Care says the Treehouse Village at Camp Kindle is sponsored by Shane Homes.
Why an awards day is worth a column
A plaque is a small thing next to a long record, but a day like this lets a city say thank you out loud. The Wenzel family’s record, as the University of Calgary tells it, runs back to at least 2010, when its foundation funded a hepatology research chair, and a record that long deserves a witness and a thank-you.
Somebody has to say thank you out loud.
STARS and I CAN FOR KIDS nominated the Wenzels together
STARS and I Can for Kids nominated the Wenzels together, which stands out, because those two have almost nothing in common. STARS is a non-profit air ambulance service, and its first mission, in December 1985, carried a critically ill infant to hospital in Calgary, according to its history page. I Can for Kids started in 2015 and hands out grocery gift cards through partner agencies. By its own count on CanadaHelps, it distributed $879,850 in cards in 2025, reaching more than 49,300 children.
Still, when two outfits that different pick the same family, that says something.
The Wenzel family’s record of giving
The University of Calgary has kept good notes. The family’s foundation paid for a hepatology research chair in 2010. In 2022 the university renamed a Foothills campus building the Cal Wenzel Precision Health Building, citing more than $20 million in giving that included a new $16-million commitment. This February it published a reflection from the researcher who has led that chair for 15 years.
Cal explained himself to the university back in 2022. Calgary is where the family makes its living, he said, so “we believe that is where we should be giving back.” The same profile reported in 2022 that for two decades he, Edith, their children and grandchildren had spent Christmas Day helping others, and described Edith as leading the foundation.
Shane Homes, the family’s company, has backed good work too. Kids Cancer Care runs Camp Kindle for children affected by cancer, and in 2024 it launched an expansion there that includes a Treehouse Village sponsored by Shane Homes. YMCA Calgary’s 2023 community report thanks Shane Homes Ltd. for its investment in the Shane Homes YMCA at Rocky Ridge, and that report covers 2023 only. Kids Cancer Care adds that other donors sponsored treehouses of their own, a sign of how many people the camp has behind it.
None of it is flashy. It’s a family that picked a city and stuck with it.
What a city owes
Thank you, Cal and Edith. Thank you for backing causes most people only meet on their worst day, a helicopter ride, an empty fridge, a hospital ward, and for doing it long before there was a plaque. Thank you to the children and grandchildren who, the university reported in 2022, spend Christmas Day alongside you. Congratulations as well to every other 2026 recipient the chapter honoured.
A family that gives for decades owes the city nothing more. The city owes them its attention and its thanks.
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