The Barossa Mag Spring 2018 | Page 38

38 | T HE B A R OSSA MAG >> Scholarship recipient Nathalie Johnson. they could hear the wind, they could smell the smoke, the school was covered in ash,” said Kylie. “The next day the community came in and cleaned up the school so the students could come back without that awful fear. “That’s what community is; these are the sorts of stories that make you think ‘wow, how amazing are the people we live with’. We thought it was a fantastic project we could put some money into.” are held in perpetuity and the interest that’s earned funds grants, scholarships and community projects,” she says. “We have close to a $2 million corpus, a strong governance structure and an incredibly hands- on board to ensure money is invested properly, spent properly and goes to the right people and projects in our community.” In contrast to popular crowd- funding campaigns, Kylie explains community foundations are modelled on sustainability. Bread-and-butter programmes include the annual Community Grants and Education scholarships; this year alone Foundation Barossa will distribute around $60,000 to remove financial barriers to tertiary study for local students. “Local people donate, local businesses donate; the funds “A love for learning is what we’re looking for, rather than being G top of the class,” says Kylie. “We see really enthusiastic young scholars who are passionate about what they are doing and it’s so nice to see them succeed.” Among them is Nathalie Johnstone from Williamstown, who is studying a double degree in Law and Policy Studies at Australian National University in Canberra. Nathalie describes the scholarship as “incredibly generous”. “As the first recipient to study interstate it comes with the condition that a proportion is spent coming back home to the Barossa, and I’m very grateful for that opportunity,” says the 19-year-old. “It’s not about moving away – I feel very fortunate to have grown up here and love the community – it’s about moving ‘to’ something so I can use my skills in service and hopefully find opportunities in the Barossa in the future.” While Foundation Barossa is one of four community foundations in South Australia – and the largest – Kylie says it’s only as sustainable as the community is generous. “It takes a strong community to build a good community foundation,” she says. “This is a way everyone in the community can be involved in philanthropy. It’s not about the big dollars but about giving back – give where you live, we say.” Y T I LS IN UN A V R M IM E S M N CO S A E IT H T D N A Nuriootpa 8562 1162 Kapunda 8566 2301