“Think about what you’d like to do for others. What you feel is important.”
11 October 2022
Nursing practitioner students will benefit from our anonymous donor’s generosity
A friend of the University of Alberta, who has asked to remain anonymous, sees her legacy gifts as an opportunity to honour her family members and create a legacy for her life’s work.
She goes on to say, “there are many ways to make contributions towards research, students, or whatever else is important to you. Personally, I believe education helps people lead successful lives.”
Our anonymous friend has established three awards for U of A students.
One is to honour her grandmother. “Granny was a pioneer who came to Canada from Poland, and she and our grandfather established a farm in the Newbrook area in 1920. He passed away before their eighth child was born leaving Granny to carry on. Two of her sons lived on the farm for their entire lives. When our last Uncle passed away, each of the nieces and nephews received a portion of the estate. The cousins and other family members worked together to establish the Legacy Award.”
The award supports students studying agriculture at the U of A.
“It’s wonderful to meet the student receiving the award each year. As a family, we see how our award helps someone realize their career goals. We share the story of our Granny and Uncles and the farm which holds so many wonderful memories for all of us.”
The second award, comes through a gift of life insurance where she has named the U of A as the beneficiary of the policy. It will honour both her mother and grandmother and be awarded to a future graduate student in the Human Ecology Department. “I was the second person in my family to attend university and fortunate to receive awards when getting my PhD. The financial assistance helped me to not worry about how I’d pay my bills.”
The third scholarship is especially meaningful. She and her husband created it as a memorial award in honour of their late daughter. “The award in her name is for a graduate student studying to be a nurse practitioner. It has been our pleasure to meet the award winner and tell them our daughter’s story. She was an outstanding nurse practitioner, and it’s our way to honour her memory.”
Through her and her husband’s generosity, these thoughtful supporters are helping U of A students now and into the future. “In our Wills, we are contributing additional revenue to our endowments to increase the value of the awards. I know that when you die, you either pay taxes to the government, or you can donate to wherever you want the money to go. For me, it’s important to choose where my life’s work will go.”