Legacy Giving: Philanthropy and the Community
Barnhart featured guest speaker at annual luncheon
This year’s LEAVE A LEGACY™ Luncheon is an opportunity to share the experiences of a tireless community leader, advocate and philanthropist: Gordon Barnhart.
Barnhart will be the featured guest speaker at this year’s LEAVE A LEGACY™ Luncheon, taking place Wednesday, May 23 from 12 to 1 p.m. at Saskatoon Prairieland Park.
The luncheon’s theme is “Legacy Giving: Philanthropy and the Community.”
“I’m going to share some of my own personal experiences, working with philanthropists and fund-raisers,” says Barnhart, who has enjoyed many avenues of community service.
“All of my working life, I’ve been in public service, in one shape or another – at the provincial, federal and municipal levels,” says Barnhart. His lengthy career includes serving as Saskatchewan’s 20th Lieutenant Governor, interim president of the University of Saskatchewan and the current president of the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA).
Growing up in Saltcoats, SK, Barnhart learned the importance of community service from his parents. “My parents were very much volunteers. My mom served on a hospital board. My dad, who was an electrician, volunteered every year to use his tall ladders to put up the Christmas lights on the town’s tree.”
At age 23, Barnhart was appointed Clerk of the Saskatchewan Legislature, a post he held for 20 years. He then served as Clerk of the Canadian Senate, for a five-year term.
Barnhart was invited to serve as Saskatchewan’s 20th Lieutenant Governor from August 2006 to March 2012. “That was another job I really enjoyed,” says Barnhart.
“As Lieutenant Governor, you want to leave a legacy. The hope is that your fiveyear term leaves a lasting impression.”
Barnhart is proud to have established the Lieutenant Governor’s Leadership Forum. The Forum’s objective was to inspire high school students to rise to the challenge of leadership. Over five years, the ten-day forums provided 94 high school seniors from across the province with opportunities to interact with leaders of government, education, industry, sports and culture. “I wanted to show these young people that we have tremendous opportunities right here in Saskatchewan for education and for careers. Of those 94 students, virtually all of them are still in Saskatchewan. Five or six have become doctors. Others are nurses. Some are teachers. A couple are business entrepreneurs. A couple have careers in the northern mines,” says Barnhart.
Following an administrative crisis at the University of Saskatchewan, Barnhart was invited to serve as Interim President and Vice Chancellor from May 2014 to October 2015. “I had roughly three hours notice. The campus was in turmoil,” says Barnhart.
During his 17-month term, Barnhart helped restore calm to the campus and re-opened channels of communication among faculty, staff and students. Leading a consultative process, Barnhart helped to establish eight priorities that would serve as directives going forward for the U of S.
Barnhart is now enjoying a new challenge, having been appointed president of SUMA. “It’s a very interesting job because we represent from the smallest villages to the largest cities in Saskatchewan. The interests, needs, wants, demands of each of those communities can be quite diverse. That’s the challenge, but I’m quite enjoying it.”
Barnhart understands the importance of supporting the organizations and charities that make a difference in our lives. “If you took one day out of the year in Saskatchewan and said, ‘Volunteers go on strike!’ – what do you think would happen? This province would grind to a halt. Just think of how many people who are volunteering, fund-raising, even looking after a senior parent, every day. Why do we do that? It’s something that needs to be done and it feels good to help other people.”
Planned giving is a way to support the organizations you value, now and in the future. Ways to leave a legacy and support the charities that are near and dear to your heart include charitable donations, transfer of stocks, bequests, wills and legacy gifts of life insurance, RRSPs and annuities.
Barnhart established an endowment for a scholarship at the U of S College of Nursing, in memory of his first wife, who passed away from cancer 15 years ago. “My wife was a nurse. This scholarship is a legacy on her behalf. It encourages young nursing students to do their Masters, which is much needed in the profession.”
Barnhart and his second wife, Naomi, have also established a scholarship in political studies at the University of Saskatchewan.
“We want to try to ensure that young people have opportunities. We can’t help them create the opportunity, but we can help them a bit with the financial side. It’s not a big amount of money, but it’s enough to help them get by.”
Barnhart relates this story on the importance of planned giving. “A generous man said to me, ‘Gordon, can you ensure that I will live five more years?’ I said, ‘No, I can’t. But what you can do is set up a planned gift. That will ensure that your name, your reputation, your values will continue forever.’ Whether he did it or not, I don’t know, but he sure liked the idea. Planned giving is a way of helping people be remembered after they’ve gone.
“That’s what Leave a Legacy is for me. Your legacy can be whatever is important to you: in the health field, in sports, helping people achieve their goals. If everyone had the same interest, there would be lots of causes that would not be supported.”
Tickets for the LEAVE A LEGACY™ Saskatoon luncheon are $20 each for CAGP members, and $30 each for the public. To register to attend, go to:
Lunch.