It was recently reported that the Sechelt Seniors Activity Centre was given a generous boost by the Clayton family, who donated $100,000 toward the centre’s renovation project. Almost buried in the story was a brief mention of another $100,000 contribution to the project, this one from an anonymous donor.
The mystery donor, we learned, is an elderly Sechelt man. He and his wife sold their property not long ago, when it was time for them to downsize, and they made a handsome profit due to the phenomenal jump in real estate values during the last three decades. Because this money was essentially unearned and they had no grandchildren, he reasoned, it was only fair to “share this good luck.” The $100,000 to the seniors centre was one of several lump sums they are donating to local organizations for a total amount of $250,000. “I wanted to give back in two directions,” he said. “To the old and sick, and to young people preparing to continue their education in university and so on.”
He decided to remain anonymous, he said, because he shuns the limelight. Also, he did not want to have to explain to casual acquaintances, over and over, what he was doing and why he was doing it. But the old gentleman does want the community to know one important secret: “They should know that it’s a good feeling to share what you have with others.”
The Sechelt couple’s situation is not unique – many downsizing seniors are finding themselves on the receiving end of real estate windfalls – and the husband respectfully encourages them to look around the community and ask themselves where help is needed. He points to the example of Robert and Ellen Smith, who last year sold their Halfmoon Bay home and donated $50,000 of the profits to establish a permanent endowment for vulnerable people on the Sunshine Coast.
Probe a little deeper, and you find out that the mystery donor was once vulnerable too, his family having arrived in Canada many years ago as refugees from communist Eastern Europe. The welcome they received, the generosity they encountered, left a lasting imprint on the couple. “We never expected to be so happy and so lucky, and now we’re so happy to give back,” the husband said, sharing once again that secret to the mystery of giving.
