The Bill White Memorial Dream Endowment Fund was created in memory of the late Bill White, one of the first Shine volunteers who knew that this charity would make a difference in the lives of young people living with severe physical disabilities.
Double your impact this Fall and support Bill’s vision to help as many kids as possible with the Bill White Memorial Donation Matching Campaign. Did you know it is 4X more costly to raise a child with disabilities? Your donation is needed now more than ever to help Shine fulfill more experiences.
Bill’s life and legacy is as cheerful and bright as Shine.
Bill is described as an outgoing, personable man with a big handshake and an even bigger smile.
Bill’s values of being a strong member of his community and his passion for volunteering and giving back started early. His life grew from humble beginnings. He was fortunate to have the love and support of his extended family, and into his adulthood, he continued to pass on this feeling, paying forward his gratitude. For over 42 years, Bill was married to the love of his life, Elizabeth. They built a life rooted in family and were supportive of helping others, together.
“He felt lucky all his life and he felt it was important to share that with other people,” his daughter Leanne describes. “He was always helping others where he could. He never took anything for granted.”
Bill came to London to work in sales for Morgan Datsun. He later transferred into sales at a printing company. With his can-do attitude, and love for meeting new people, Shine became a perfect fit.
“His company was a big supporter of Shine (at the time, Sunshine). So he showed up at our office one day and said he wanted to be involved with a DreamLift, asking how I was going to make that happen… the rest is history,” shares Deb Comuzzi, former Shine CEO and family friend.
As a Shine volunteer, Bill attended the DreamLift program to Disney, helped at many golf tournaments, fundraised through a variety of sponsorships, and created “Bill’s Buttons” with photos of each DreamLift participant before their flight. “He’d be the one greeting people, the welcoming face,” Elizabeth describes.
“Shine is as strong as it is today because of Bill’s legacy and this gift is a perfect example of his kind heart living on.” – Deb
“It never rains on a Shine event.” – Bill
After Bill died in 1996, his fellow volunteers (Larry Genttner and Al Wise) approached his family with the idea of running a golf tournament in his memory at the Pine Knott Golf & Country Club in Dorchester, ON.
Leanne has a background working for national companies and has large event experience, so she used her skills to make the tournaments fun, personal, memorable, and well attended! The first tournament hosted 132 golfers and 200 guests for dinner. Participants were all connected to Bill in some way and were all excited to support Shine’s mission. That year, they raised close to $10,000.
Over the next ten years, many people returned for the annual Bill White Memorial Golf Tournament, with 160 golfers every year. The dinners were always full and featured famous guest speakers from sports and media who spoke about giving back and making a difference. “The golf tournaments would have been something that Dad would have loved – and been completely amazed at,” Leanne shares.
After years of hosting their golf tournament, Bill’s family established an endowment with Shine to continue raising funds in perpetuity, keep Bill’s memory shining, and help as many kids as possible. Since its creation, nearly $200,000 has been disbursed from the fund in support of Shine’s programs. With the same dedicated passion and generosity as their late husband and father, Bill’s family didn’t miss a beat, continuing Bill’s legacy through golf tournaments, the endowment fund, and now, this matching gift.
Thanks to a generous donation of $20,000 from the Bill White Memorial Dream Endowment Fund, your gift today will be matched, helping make an even bigger difference in the lives of young people living with severe physical disabilities. Donate by December 31st to double your gift!
