Birthday includes a gift for the community
A health scare and the example set by her parents inspired a Taranaki woman to leave a bequest to help others, as part of her 65th birthday celebrations.
Janine Evans decided to mark the milestone by creating a personal legacy for the community through Taranaki Foundation.
“Despite facing financial setbacks, I’ve been deeply influenced by my parents, Gwen and John Wills, who instilled in me a strong sense of community giving,” she said in a press release.
“Their example of helping others in the community has stayed with me and I’ve made it a habit to donate regularly to causes I care about. Giving back has always been a key part of our family’s beliefs.”
Eventually, her legacy gift will be used to support child protection and the Govett-brewster Charitable Foundation, where she currently works.
“Charitable giving isn’t just for the wealthy. Imagine if all my friends follow suit, we can make a significant impact on our local community.
“It’s heartwarming to know we can continue supporting causes we care about, even after we’re gone.”
The Invercargill-born woman moved to Taranaki in the 1980s, where she built a life, marrying a farmer from Urenui, raising her children Carys and Thomas and opening a hairdressing salon.
Later, she lived and worked overseas, before seven years in Waikato, where she was the marketing manager for a child protection organisation.
Her work there “opened my eyes to a whole world I didn’t know about”.
Evans returned to Taranaki four years ago.
Hearing Taranaki Foundation chief executive Josh Hickford speak about the impact of leaving a 10% gift in one’s will sparked a “lightbulb moment” for her.
Taranaki Foundation specialises in endowment gifting, where funds are invested by the foundation and the annual income is used to make grants to the community in line with the donors’ wishes.
One of its current projects is Destination Play at Kāwaroa, in partnership with mana whenua of Ngāmotu, Ngāti Te Whiti, New Plymouth District Council and NP Partners.