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.”
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Nuriootpa
8562 1162
Kapunda
8566 2301