JUNE 15 DEADLINE FOR GRAVENURST STUDENTS TO APPLY FOR 2026-27 ROTARY BURSARY EDUCATIONAL FUND
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
GRAVENHURST — If it takes a village to raise a child, Gravenhurst is a one big happy family.
Thanks to the Rotary Club’s Bursary Endowment Fund.
An educational service that last year allowed 34 more Gravenhurst students to pursue post-secondary education at universities and colleges throughout Canada changing their lives forever.
Thanks to gifts from the community. Through their generosity and with Rotary’s “highly successful conservative investment strategy” this trust fund has grown to more than $3 million.
To qualify for a bursary, the applicant must be a Gravenhurst resident and actively pursuing a post-secondary education that leads to a diploma, degree or certificate. If a student is from Gravenhurst and attending a Catholic School in Bracebridge or Orillia, they may also be eligible for a Bursary. Previous bursary award winners may apply each year for as many as five years.
Members of the Rotary Club, their children and grandchildren are not eligible.
For some lower income families, just knowing there is help in our community for their children is changing the perceptions of some parents. It also changes the expectations of children if they know there is financial assistance available. It is important for both parents and children to know there is help – right here in our community.
Richard Augustine, a retired accountant, club and committee member notes: “The bursaries come from the dividends and interest earned on the investments from donations we receive. We do not spend the donations, we invest them! As the fund grows, we can give greater help to students dreaming of a better life.’”
The Rotary Club of Gravenhurst is a registered charity and provides tax receipts! Help us, to help children, trying to help themselves!
June 15 application deadline
Applications for the 2026-2027 year of study are available at the High Schools or on the website at www.Bursaryfund.ca, where you will also find full details regarding eligibility, special donors, history and more.
Applications must be received by June 15th 2026 and may be completed and submitted online. Rob Abbott, chairman of the Rotary Bursary Endowment Fund is available at 705-330-4597.
The Rotary Bursary Endowment Fund
Box 888,
Gravenhurst, Ontario
P1P 1V2
17 years helping students learn more
It all started in 2009 when Brian Ferguson, President of the Rotary Club of Gravenhurst, supported the effort to develop the Rotary Bursary Endowment Fund and a club commitment of $50,000. This was followed by a startling swell of support from individual members of the club and an enthusiasm that rippled throughout the Town.
Why has the community jumped on board with overwhelming support?
There are several reasons.
- First: the impeccable reputation of the Rotary Club of Gravenhurst serving Gravenhurst for over 85 years.
- Second: a common interest in helping many families and their children in town in need of financial support for their child’s education.
- Third: those gifting to the fund know the money is not spent but rather invested in Canadian securities.
- Fourth: donors who analyze and compare alternative charities to support at tax time, are drawn to the Rotary Bursary Endowment Fund because it has no administration fees and it is operated by the Rotary Club of Gravenhurst with its motto of ‘Service Above Self’ known internationally.
21 stand-alone bursaries
The opportunity to create a ‘Stand-Alone’ Family Bursary within the fund, with your gift, was rather unique.
Donors have embraced these bursaries as a way of personalizing a bursary to recognize their family, a family member or someone close to them to memorialize.
Each and every year following the gift, the dividends and interest earned is provided to a student.
Further, a story of the individual or family’s successes and/or contributions in life are recorded and a copy sent to the student with the bursary.
Note: Endowment funds are held in perpetuity.
In addition to the Rotary Club of Gravenhurst, the following families have provided a gift of $25,000 or more to the Endowment Fund creating their own ‘Stand-Alone’ Bursary:
- Mary E. McSheffery Memorial Bursary
- Norman Rippon Family Bursary
- Everett and Florence Doherty Family Bursary
- Ross and Betty Franklin Family Bursary
- Audrey and Fred Brown Family Bursary
- William and Dora Rathbun Family Bursary
- Agnes Lina Cook Memorial Bursary
- Terence Haight Memorial Bursary
- Glen and Phyllis Williams Family Bursary
- Isabel Heels Memorial Bursary
- Goodwin Family Bursary
- Frankish Family Bursary
- Vellinga Family Bursary
- Enno and Marina Hoekstra Family Bursary
- Jack and Sandra Young Family Bursary
- Patricia Patterson Family Bursary
- Patricia Lynn Forth Memorial Bursary
- John Vail Family Bursary,
- Dorothy Liddle Bursary Fund
- Norman Rippon Jr. Memorial Fund
- Bob and Dale Barnes Family Bursary
The Rotary Bursary Endowment Fund continues to receive gifts annually from individuals in the community who, as a result of inheritance, lottery or their own hard work find themselves in a position to gift more than $25,000.
Speak to chair Rob Abbott or any Rotarian about becoming a sustaining member with your own ‘Family Bursary.’ Each and every year, a bursary will be given to a student from your ‘Stand-Alone’ Bursary and the student will receive a story of the individual and/or the family with the Bursary. Your legacy will live on each year in a different child’s appreciative heart.
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