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On July 3, 2009 our community lost a long-time Rotarian of the Rotary Club of Grande Prairie and community leader, William 'Bill' Beattie.

Shortly before his passing, Bill approached his son Bob and daughter Cathy and said "I feel I've got far more out of Grande Prairie than I've put into it. I want a portion of my estate invested back into the community - you guys figure out how to do it"

The Beattie family are honoring Bill's wishes in full, both by way of one time donations to worthy charities, and by the establishment of the Beattie Family Fund.

A donation has been made to STARS that the family feels will benefit the entire region, a second to Camp Tamarack to aid in funding construction of a paved wilderness trail, and a third donation will be announced in the coming months.  

"While these donations are significant, we are most excited about the Beattie Family Fund, because it provides the mechanism for Dad to support the community indefinitely." Bob Beattie

This endowment fund is invested, with the principle remaining untouched and a portion of the interest earned each year dispersed as grants. The fund will be built to a minimum of $70,000 over three years and will on an annual basis provide grants to worthy regional charities as follows:

• 2/3  of the available grant money will be directed to support learning and training opportunities aimed to develop the leadership skills of youth (up to the age of 30 years of age) volunteers into leaders and increase their leadership skills with a goal of having well prepared young people serve effectively on volunteer boards.

• The remaining 1/3 will be directed to support operating costs of charities, where a minimum of 75% of the operational/management hours are delivered by volunteers.

"Bill Beattie's final contributions to the Grande Prairie region will total more than $100,000. The Beattie family is extremely proud of his decision, and honored to be able to carry it out on his behalf." Bob Beattie

Bill Beattie will be missed, but his legacy will live on within the Community Foundation, Rotary and the community he called home, forever.

To read more about Bill's history with Rotary and the community click here.