testimonials
Leo Canny
“You don’t have to be on the fossil record to leave your mark on Ballarat” – so says Leo Canny, well-known Ballarat family businessman.
Leo and his family have been committed to giving something back to the city they call home, for many years.
Leo says, “Our family’s success has in no small way been due to the support we have enjoyed from the citizens of this city and we felt we owed it to the people of Ballarat to give something back.
“The opportunity to do this came about as a result of The Ballarat Foundation and its work within the wider community.
“By utilising the Foundation’s structure and management expertise in establishing named funds, The Ballarat Foundation provided me with the perfect vehicle. I was able to establish our own Named Fund – The Canny Family Fund under the umbrella of The Ballarat Foundation.
“I get enormous pleasure and satisfaction from seeing first hand how the distribution of the income from The Canny Family Fund helps improve the quality of life for many in our community. It is gratifying to see the Fund at work now, rather than when I am gone.
“I can also rest easy in the knowledge that The Canny Family Fund will continue to be administered by the Board of the Foundation in perpetuity – helping the community forever.”
Val Sarah, AM
“I believe that ‘giving while you are living’ to benefit the causes you feel passionate about has emotional benefits, rather than leaving money in your will.
“I believe there may be emotional benefits in ‘giving while living’ rather than leaving money in your will, to benefit the causes you feel passionate about.
How simple it can be!
As a very young child I was evacuated from war-torn England to safe haven on Vancouver Island in Canada, and placed with a foster family. We’ve kept in touch, and our children and grandchildren are now visiting across the world.
The last 15 years of my working life were spent at Child & Family Services (CAFS) Ballarat. One of its finest programs is the Regional Foster Care Program. I’d like to think that, by supporting this program and others run by CAFS, I’m repaying a debt of gratitude to the family who took me in and gave me shelter all those years ago.
The establishment of a Designated Agency Fund through The Ballarat Foundation offered a formal structure through which I could give to CAFS, not just as a ‘one-off’ gesture, but - through the corpus of funds - allocate fund earnings into perpetuity.
This is a classic example of ‘giving made easy… giving where it counts’. I don’t have to worry about management or legal issues, and my family can continue to participate if they wish, when I die.
The Ballarat Foundation is the perfect vehicle to allow you to achieve your dreams.”
