Bob and Aileen's legacy

A donation of $1.38m was gifted to Sunrise from Bob and Aileen Harris’s estate in 2018, the largest bequest Sunrise has received.

Bob and Aileen asked that half the investment income from their fund be equally divided between our local rescue helicopter and Waipaoa Station Farm Cadet Training Trust, two causes that were important to them, and for the remaining half to be included in Sunrise’s annual funding round. Bob and Aileen’s son Mike, and his wife Trish, choose which causes receive those grants.

Mike says that “helping with the granting is exciting. We quite enjoy giving away money that’s not ours, we feel like Father Christmas!”

But joking aside Mike and Trish say they love being involved in giving back to our community.

One of the causes they chose this year is Gisborne Intermediate. Trish says “both Mike and I are ex-teachers so we know from experience how much schools struggle. There was many a time I would dip in to my own pocket to pay for stuff I needed for my students.”

Waipaoa and Eastland Rescue Helicopter received their annual grant, as well as GisInt, Child Cancer Foundation, Gisborne Bowling Club and Sunshine Service, all chosen by Mike and Trish.

You can read more about Bob and Aileen's story on the Donors page of our website.