Margaret Kelch in Etobicoke, Ontario, in a park and access point to Mimico Creek.JENNA WAKINI
In the Happy Valley Forest, just north of the Greater Toronto Area, there’s a trail-side plaque on a very large rock honouring Roberta Langtry, who left a significant bequest to the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) in her will.
Margaret Kelch stops to read it every time she visits. She learned that Roberta was a teacher who invested her hard-earned savings, which, over many years, became a wonderful gift to NCC. Happy Valley Forest, the largest remaining intact forest of its kind on the Oak Ridges Moraine, is one of Margaret’s favourite places to visit, as it is just a short 45-minute drive from her home.
“This was someone who worked hard and was able to leave much of her savings to something she cared deeply about,” Margaret says of the donor. “Her generosity and passion spoke to me.”
An avid birder, Margaret first learned about the Nature Conservancy of Canada while volunteering to watch and count the fall hawk migration in Toronto’s High Park in 2005. She was introduced to the Ontario Regional Board Chair at that time, and this introduction led to a decade of service on NCC’s Ontario and national boards, including three years as the Ontario chair.
“As a birder, you quickly learn the importance of preserving healthy habitats and providing resilient landscapes for wildlife and species to thrive. To have an organization that is entirely focused on determining which habitats need protection and then putting in place plans to do that is incredibly appealing to me,” Margaret says.
When people read this, I hope they see an average, hardworking individual with hope for the future. You don’t need piles of cash. Just a belief that we can all make a valuable contribution.
— Margaret Kelch, Nature Legacy Society Member
She contributed her time and expertise to NCC and made regular annual donations. In 2012, Margaret attended a Donor Motivation Program seminar hosted by NCC, which inspired her to rethink her own philanthropy.
Margaret chose to include a bequest in her will to support something she cares deeply about: NCC’s conservation efforts in Ontario. And while she acknowledges that a planned gift allows her to donate more than might be possible during her lifetime, she also knows that even a modest contribution can make a big difference.
“When people read this, I hope they see an average, hardworking individual with hope for the future,” she says. “You don’t need piles of cash. Just a belief that we can all make a valuable contribution.”
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