Wills Month: How Edna Brown Planted the First Acorn
September is Wills Month, a time to reflect not only on the practical importance of keeping your Will up to date, but also on the legacy you want to leave behind.
For Tauranga local Edna Brown, that legacy was simple but profound. When she passed away in 2001, her Will included a bequest that became the first ever endowment fund with the Acorn Foundation. More than 20 years later, Edna’s generosity is still providing annual funding to charities across the Western Bay of Plenty, a lasting impact that has grown far beyond her original gift.
Her story shows how one decision, made in the quiet of a lawyer’s office, can ripple out across decades, improving lives and strengthening communities long after we’re gone.
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
Edna passed away in 2001, leaving more than just fond memories. In her Will she set aside a bequest of just over $67,200 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 over $184k even after distributing $83k 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.
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
This September, during Wills Month, you too have the opportunity to follow in Edna’s footsteps. Updating your Will is one of the most important ways to care for your loved ones — and, with the simple addition of the Acorn Foundation clause, you can also ensure that your values live on in the place you call home.
By working with one of Acorn’s 15 partner law firms, many of whom are offering free or discounted Wills this month, the process is straightforward. Your gift will be invested in perpetuity, generating funding for local causes every year, forever.
Download your free Wills Month Information Pack