Birthday Milestone Sparks Legacy ‘Lightbulb Moment’

Once her children were older, she says her adventurous spirit carried her overseas to live and work, before returning to settle in the Waikato. There, Janine spent seven years as the Marketing Manager for a child protection organisation, a trust dedicated to preventing harm to children “which opened my eyes to a whole world I didn’t know about,” she reflects.

Despite being away from Taranaki for many years, Janine always considered Taranaki her home, where her children and grandchildren still live. Upon returning to New Plymouth four years ago, Janine’s involvement with New Plymouth Partners led her to discover the Taranaki Foundation. A recent event where Chief Executive, Josh Hickford spoke about the impact of leaving a 10 percent gift in one’s will sparked the ‘lightbulb moment’ she needed.

Inspired by this and motivated by a recent health scare, Janine turned to her lawyers at Legal Solutions to include a charitable gift in her will. After deep consideration, Janine has decided her gift will be invested and grown into an ongoing source of funding, used to support child protection and the Govett-Brewster Charitable Foundation, where she currently works. “It’s important to help future generations,” she insists.

It is understood generosity is a product of both nature and nurture, with philanthropy largely engendered in our DNA. “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 says. “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.

“Even a small part of what you leave behind can make a big difference. Charitable giving isn’t just for the wealthy. Imagine if all my friends followed suit, imagine what we could do, what a difference we could make to our local community? It’s very cool, to know I can continue supporting causes I care about, even after I’ve gone.”