Donation honours Janine’s legacy

ANOTHER significant contribution has been made to the Ballarat Foundation’s Janine Owen Fund by her husband Tim Owen.

The fund was set up in 2013 after Janine died in an accident.

It was created by Mr Owen to honour her passion for supporting the community.

“When Janine died, it was extremely difficult,” Mr Owen said.

“I was in a really dark place as a consequence of that.

“I couldn’t really talk about it at the time, but I knew what I wanted to achieve out of it and that was to find some positivity in what was a really awful set of circumstances.”

The latest contribution comes after the settlement of the estate of Janine’s parents Betty and Gerald Mallon. Mr Owen said giving the money to the Ballarat Foundation was an easy decision.

“As both of their children were deceased, they entrusted me to be executor of their will… on the basis that I would know what to do,” he said.

“For me it was pretty simple decision-making, that I treated anything that came to me as Janine’s.”

Over $130,000 of income in the fund has been distributed since its creation to address problems such as family violence, mental health, homelessness and food insecurity.

The latest contribution makes the Janine Owen Fund’s gesture one of the largest private philanthropic endowments ever received by the foundation.

Ballarat Foundation CEO Andrew Eales said one of the great things about the organisation is that donors can help decide where their money goes.

“We know that you can’t change the dial overnight but our focus as an organisation is really about sustainable long-term change,” he said.

“We really make it possible for donors to influence the outcomes that they want to see in the community and that’s the key aspect of what we do in that we’re not beholden to a government or a church.

“We are community led and facing and I think that does help build the trust with donors.”

Mr Owen said he hopes to encourage more people to give to their communities.

“If I can change one person’s behaviour, I think that’s a really positive thing,” he said.

“I don’t feel [giving] is a normal part of our society and our culture and I’d like to normalise that.”