Why They Give

Gary Stinson (BSC 1988 SCAR) has been credited with keeping the Varsity rowing program afloat for almost eight years, putting in time, energy and his own money for the benefit of the team. When he was offered an honorarium for all his coaching and volunteer work, he turned it over to the rowing program so more students could benefit. He gives because he values the opportunities that rowing has given him. “I know we all graduate with degrees that teach us the blacks and whites of life, but the lessons learned from dealing with people, competing and managing time and stress I learned from rowing.” On top of his immeasurable gifts of time and commitment, he has pledged more than $1,500 to U of T through the Annual Fund. The university recently recognized his dedication with an Arbor Award, given for outstanding volunteer service.

Jean Woodsworth (BA 1935 VIC, BSW 1958, MSW 1962) spent more than 60 years breaking barriers faced by women and seniors. In the ’30s, she fought the rule that banned married women from working at the YWCA, and in 1985 organized the so-called “grey power” revolt that stopped the federal government from ending the universality of old-age pensions. Woodsworth went back to school while raising three children and working full-time, earning two degrees at U of T’s Faculty of Social Work. The social activist was appointed to the Order of Ontario and the Order of Canada for her tireless volunteer and lobbying efforts, but more than anything she valued the tribute she received from the Faculty of Social Work when it honoured her at its 75th anniversary in 1989. After her death in 1995 at the age of 82, Woodsworth’s family and friends set up the Jean Eleanor Ross Woodsworth Bursary at the Faculty of Social Work. The bursary will be awarded annually on the basis of financial needto a registered full-time graduate student enrolled at the Faculty of Social Work who has an interest in the area of seniors, women, or Canadian social policy.