The business of giving back
Porirua resident Chris Kirk-Burnnand has a head for business, a love for his community and a commitment to helping young people thrive. This year, Chris and wife Helen established a Nikau fund so their support for their community will continue long into the future.
Business is in Chris Kirk-Burnnand’s bones. At 15 years old, he was running a circular distribution business while still at school. After a stint at university, he dropped out to start what became a wide-ranging and very successful career in business.
The day job was important but so was being active participants in their north Wellington community. In 1987, Chris and Helen established the Johnsonville Youth Grants trust and they have been involved in and supported the Life Education Trust (LET), both at a local and national level and the Whitireia Foundation.
It also included the Porirua Youth Awards – an organisation rewarding young people for effort and success in arts and culture, education, environment and community work, and sport. It will be the beneficiary of the Kirk-Burnnand Family Fund.
Supporting young people
Chris and Helen’s philanthropic focus has been on supporting organisations helping young people develop life and leadership skills, allowing them to thrive and participate in their communities.
“Children are really precious, and you’ve got to give them a good start in life. The Porirua Youth Awards are really recognising the importance of rewarding young people for trying hard and for success.”
Establishing a forever fund with Nikau
This year, Chris and Helen decided to add a new string to their philanthropic bow when they set up their Nikau fund.
The idea of a forever fund was appealing.
“We do a lot of direct funding. The difference with Nikau is that we’re putting money into a fund that will be going when we’re long gone and still doing some good in the community.”
“It’s a way for us to recognise that we’ve lived in Porirua for nearly 43 years, and it really is our home. We love the community there and I suppose that’s really why we are doing it.”
A practical and efficient way of giving
For a man with a sound business head on his shoulders, giving through Nikau Foundation made sense.
“It’s a good way to do it because we don’t have to manage annual returns from the trust. We don’t really have to run it at all because that’s what Nikau is doing. We’re saying we want the money to go there. We may well support how it goes there, but it takes the responsibility of running a trust and the effort that comes with it away from us, and I think that’s beneficial. I’m really keen on that.”
“You’ve got to have a love of community, and now that I’m a grandparent, a lot of the things I’m doing are really about looking at how we develop a society and an attitude in the community that I want my grandchildren to grow up in.”
Help us to support our young people fulfill their potential, by making a donation to the Kirk-Burnnand Family Fund.