A Lasting Influence
When Gareth Foster sees a group of school kids wandering home from school, he doesn’t see scruffy haircuts and rowdy teens. He sees talent, potential and future success stories.
Gareth has seen firsthand how investing in youth can bring about new opportunities and help develop young talent – he has family members who benefited from investment in talent and went on to win Olympic medals! It is this vision that helped him to decide to leave a gift in his will to Northland Community Foundation – to invest in the future and develop young, Northland talent.
A change in Gareth’s life led him to update his will, and it was a conversation with his lawyer who asked “Have you thought about gifting money to an organization?” that got him thinking about leaving a gift in his will. Gareth initially thought of New Zealand-wide charities, but his lawyer suggested he consider giving locally.
“I thought it over, and thought ‘it’s the right thing to do’ - I want to give back to the community that I’ve lived in my whole life”. After some research into Community Foundations in Aotearoa, Gareth felt comfortable with his decision, and went ahead updating his will and leaving a gift with Northland Community Foundation
So how does it all work? When Gareth set about updating his will he naturally made sure his family and friends were looked after first. After that, Gareth decided to leave the residue of his estate to benefit the causes that are closest to his heart – his love of singing, sports and education. His gift will be invested with Northland Community Foundation, with the income (the interest earned each year) benefitting the causes of his choice forever. This means that Gareth’s gift will live on forever, and will provide scholarships to up-and-coming young talent in his name.
Why sport, education and singing? Well, Gareth is a male bass singer and has performed for many years including with the Whangārei Repertory Society and Whangārei Theatre Company. He has also always loved sport, particularly athletics, swimming and equestrian. When thinking about his will, Gareth reflected on the opportunities he’d had in life, and how that had helped him develop his talents as a singer and an athlete. Gareth says “We have a lot of talent out there in Northland, and sometimes they need a bit of helping along, a bit of extra support to reduce barriers and to help develop that talent”.
He also decided to establish an endowment fund specifically for tertiary education. While working as a tutor at NorthTec, Gareth enjoyed seeing students make progress, and then leave with a qualification. Gareth says “Education helps to advance people; it gives them skills. It gives them a better start in life and more opportunities”.
What’s Gareth’s vision for the Northland of the future? He hopes to see strong Northland communities, where young people are inspired, engaged and have opportunities to develop their skills. Thanks to Gareth’s generous gift, this vision will be a reality for talented Northland youth.
September is Wills Month
When you give through your local Community Foundation your gift (no matter what size) can be invested and grown into an ongoing source of funding. Have you considered leaving a gift in your Will, find out how you can make your gift last forever.
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