Sponsored Content

Theresa Tingey talks about her son, Josh, as someone who lived live fully. He enjoyed a wide range of sports and activities, including hockey, motorcross, fishing, skiing, and more.

Josh was engaged to his partner, Bex, and had become a registered surveyor when he tragically died in a paragliding accident in 2018 at age 28.

After Josh’s death, a donation from his university surveying cohort created the Joshua Tingey Memorial Fund with Acorn.

Acorn Foundation chief executive Lori Luke said the fund had started small, but people dear to Josh had continued to add to the fund, and additional fundraising came through the annual Joshua Tingey Memorial Fishing Competition.

“This initiative has helped the fund grow, enabling Acorn to distribute more than $30,000 to youth initiatives in the Western Bay over the past seven years.”

Currently, distributions from Josh’s fund help Paengeroa-based organisation, Youth Encounter, as it was a charity that Josh supported personally.

Youth Encounter offers activity-based pathways of mentoring, counselling, therapy, camps, and leadership development.

Luke said that all donations made to Josh’s fund were invested, with a percentage of the returns distributed each year. The rest of the returns were re-invested into the fund, allowing it to grow over time, she said.

“Acorn’s unique Smarter Giving Model invests donations in permanent endowment funds, protecting the capital so there is an annual distribution to causes that matter to donors,” Luke said. “This fund is a perfect way to honour Josh’s memory.”

To learn more, visit www.acornfoundation.org.nz