GIFTS from the HEART
When I arrived at the Saanich Peninsula Hospital Foundation almost 20 years ago, one of the first people I met was Royce McKinnon. He was about to retire as Treasurer of the Foundation and wanted me to understand the changes he and our auditors had made to our accounting system. At that time, I found him to be engaged, affable and deeply connected to the work of the Foundation.
It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Royce reappeared to help organize our golf tournament. He and his wife, Doris, loved to golf, and he was at his happiest when ensuring that he and 142 of his “closest” friends had both a sunny day golfing and the opportunity to support their hospital.
I learned that one of the challenges of hosting a “best ball” tournament is the scoring, especially if you want to take handicaps into account for a “Low Net Score” prize as well as the normal “Low Gross Score” prize. To overcome that problem, Royce created a scoring system to blend both the gross (or actual) shots taken and people’s handicaps. The more we used the system, the more it became identified with Royce, and it became known as “Royce’s Rules”.
Over the years, I’ve actually been able to golf in a couple of tournaments, but I discovered that I shouldn’t because Royce always weighted my team so they wouldn’t win. “It wouldn’t look right if you won, Karen,” he told me.
In between tournaments, Royce and Doris would come into the office for visits. They were a kind and generous couple to me as well as to each other. Around the time of their 60th wedding anniversary, I commented that they were one of the most well-matched couples I had ever met. Royce, with a sly smile, responded with, “Well, we don’t get along perfectly every day!”
We lost both of these lovely people this year, and I feel honoured that they remembered the Saanich Peninsula Hospital Foundation in their will with a very generous bequest. While I will miss them terribly, it will be a labour of love to put their bequest to work – helping members of our community in need of the services of the Saanich Peninsula Hospital.
If you’ve thought about making a legacy gift to the Saanich Peninsula Hospital Foundation, talk to us. We’d be happy to give you advice.