John and Terri Vellinga Bursary Award

The Rotary Bursary Endowment Fund was pleasantly surprised to receive a donation to help provide bursaries to students in need of financial assistance for their upcoming years at College or University.

John and Terri Vellinga have seen how important an education has been to their family.
While John was building houses for a living, his wife Terri went back to university and graduated at the age of 40. That set the stage for the rest of the family.

Both daughters, Christy and Leslie attended university; one went to Queen’s University in Kingston and the other to the University of Western Ontario in London. They both got jobs and they both had two children while pursuing their careers. They both returned to university to complete graduate studies, Christy with a Masters in Education and Leslie with a Masters of Law in Alternate Dispute Resolution. John and Terri have seen the important role an education can be in their career developments.

Terri said ‘We knew firsthand how powerful an education can be to the success of children. As a former teacher I know it can light a child’s fire, it teaches them how to think and solve problems, it creates a future for them and their families. Yes, it can change the world.’ John and Terri know an education is something that cannot be taken away and they believe everyone should have access to an education. They had two daughters at university at the same time and they know how important financial help must be to some families.