The Flin Flon School Division (FFSD) has received an unexpected helping hand from the estate of a recently deceased long-time local.
The funds come from the estate of Flin Flonner Bill Friesen, a long-time Hudbay employee in the mining company's assay and analytical lab. The money is, according to school division executive staff, the largest sum of its kind ever received by the division in its history by a private citizen.
Friesen died last year, but he left behind a six-figure gift for local schools. All in all, trustees from the division estimate the donation to be around $150,000 in total worth.
“I want to start by sharing that we have received a large sum of money from the estate of longtime Flin Flonner Bill Friesen,” said board chair Leslie Fernandes during the division’s Jan. 24 board of trustees meeting.
“He generously donated money to be used towards scholarships for Hapnot students going into the science and math fields. We truly appreciate that Bill wanted to give back to his community and contribute to the betterment of local students - we’d like to thank him very much.”
Other figures in Flin Flon’s history, like Joe Brain or former Lieutenant Governor Bud Jobin, have set aside sizable amounts of money to be used by the division for bursaries in the past
“It wasn’t like this large sum that we can draw on,” said FFSD secretary-treasurer Heather Fleming of the donation.
Originally from Melfort, Sask., Friesen was a graduate of Brandon University - then called Brandon College - in 1958, receiving his bachelor’s degree in science, moving to Flin Flon and never looking back. Friesen embraced the northern life, becoming well-known for volunteering with groups like the Hapnot travel club, the Flin Flon Ski Club, the Precambrian Sailing Club, local geocachers and many others.
How exactly Friesen's money will be spent is known in general terms - how much of the money will be bestowed each year is not entirely known yet, for instance, along with whether or not the money will be provided to graduating students only or also to Grades 9-11 students.
“He had a love for math and science. In our original conversation we had, there was looking at a trust that could go toward science scholarships,” said Fleming, who added that the division is looking at ways to sustain Friesen’s fund to allow more students in the future to take advantage of his philanthropy.
“Hapnot is still kind of working out some details - is there a possibility to do like what is done with the Dorothy Ash bursaries for Grades 9, 10 and 11 students? Will there be an award? We also want to make sure that money, the capital amount, is always there - depending on how much each year we can earn on interest.”
