A mystery donor from Whangarei has bequeathed $6 million to Northland and national charities.
Four Northland and two national charities have received bequests of $1 million from the estate of a Whangarei woman.
The Northland charities are North Haven Hospice, Alzheimers Northland, Stroke Foundation of New Zealand Northern Region and Parkinson's Northland. The national charities are Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind and Arthritis New Zealand, both which have Northland branches and do work throughout the region.
Five of the six charities said they had yet to decide exactly where the funding would go. The woman's executors, Heather Logue and Travis Harris, said out of respect to the woman's memory they did not wish to provide details that might identify her.
Parkinson's Northland chair Wilma Davies-Colley said the charity was extremely grateful for the generous bequest. "We are delighted that she so valued our support and services that we once provided to her family," Ms Davies-Colley said.
"We now need time to reflect on how we can best fulfil the donor's intentions."
North Haven Hospice Endowment Trust chairman Jim Kilpatrick said the trust was most humbled by the bequest. "Bequests like this are very important for the future of the hospice," he said. "The $1 million will certainly make a material difference to the endowment trust, and to the provision of hospice services in perpetuity."
Stroke Foundation Northern Region general manager Don Scandrett said the $1 million would be used in the Northern region, which encompasses Auckland and Northland, but he was not yet sure exactly how it would be spent. "A donation of that size deserves a lot of thought," he said.
Mr Scandrett said the woman had no previous connection with the Stroke Foundation. "I'm humbled that there are people in our community that do things like this. We feel very fortunate to have received this. It's amazing," he said.
Alzheimers Northland is using the money to fund a new facility at Tikipunga, scheduled to open in November, chairman Kevin Salmon said. Arthritis New Zealand CEO Sandra Kerby said the organisation was incredibly grateful for the donation, and at this point had no specific plans for the money, although it wanted to make sure the cash was used in line with the woman's wishes and the charity's strategic plan. A Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind spokesperson said it looked likely the funds would be invested in the Northland branch.