Planting the first acorn: Edna Brown’s enduring legacy
A family shaped by service
The story of Edna Brown begins long before her own birth. Her grandfather, Charles Augustus Clarke, left Salisbury, England, in 1868 and had made Tauranga his home by 1872. A respected leader, setting an early example of community-minded service. Edna’s father, also named Charles, followed the same path of public contribution, spending 37 years teaching in Rotorua while championing local sport and culture.
Growing up Clarke
Born in Rotorua on 26 July 1913, the youngest of ten children, Edna grew up amid the buzz of the family’s soda-water business, whose Tauranga and Rotorua factories were local landmarks (the Rotorua site now lies beneath the Novotel). Surrounded by hard work, ingenuity and community connection, she learnt early that business success and civic responsibility can, and should, go hand-in-hand.
Life, love, and the Bay of Plenty
Edna married George Brown and, true to form, threw herself into hospitality, even managing the historic Tin Hut Hotel in Greytown. Farming life later drew the couple back north to rural Te Puke, and Edna eventually settled in Ōmokoroa, Matapihi, and finally Tauranga. Friends and neighbours remember her kindness, quiet determination, and flair for making people feel at home, traits that would live on long after she was gone.
Sparking a movement: the first Acorn gift
|
Year |
Fund balance |
Grants distributed |
Collective total* |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2003 (original gift) |
$67,200 |
– |
$67,200 |
|
2023 |
$93,252 |
$75,839 |
$169,091 |
|
2053 (projected) |
$134,247 |
$210,030 |
$344,277 |
*Figures assume Acorn’s standard settings: a long-run net growth rate of 6.5 per cent and an annual distribution of 4 per cent.
Edna passed away in 2001, leaving more than just fond memories. In her Will she set aside a bequest of just over $67,000 for the benefit of Tauranga. Two years later, that seed became the very first donor fund of the newly founded Acorn Foundation. Thanks to Acorn’s “Smarter Giving Model”, her capital is invested in perpetuity, generating an annual income stream for the community while the core gift keeps on growing.
Twenty years after its launch Edna’s fund balance had risen to nearly $100k even after distributing $75k in grants. Fast-forward another thirty years and, on our current settings, the fund is expected to have doubled while having delivered more than $210k in support for local charities. It is a live demonstration of how a single act of foresight can keep paying dividends for generations.
Twenty-plus years of growing impact
Because Edna’s capital was invested in perpetuity, her fund keeps earning income year after year, income that is distributed to causes she cared about. Since 2003 it has supported 15 organisations dedicated to medical research, treatment, and quality of life:
The grants made from Edna’s fund now far exceed her original gift, yet the capital she entrusted to Acorn is still intact, continuing to grow, continuing to give.
From Omokoroa to the world
Edna’s pioneering generosity is regularly shared across global philanthropic networks as a case study in the power of local legacy. Each time her story is told, it carries the mana of a woman who believed in compassion, community, and care, and who chose action over good intentions.
Leave your own legacy
Edna’s single “acorn” has grown into a forest of impact. Imagine what the next seed could become. If you’d like to talk about leaving a gift that will keep giving, long after today’s headlines have faded, we’d love to share a cuppa and explore what matters most to you.
Pop into the office, phone 07 579 9839, or visit acornfoundation.org.nz. Together, we can turn your values into lasting change for the Bay of Plenty.