A pair of lifelong friends and nurses have left a $100,000 legacy to the College of New Caledonia (CNC) to help the next generation of nurses.
Betty Smith and Becky Beck lived next door to each other in Vancouver and dedicated their lives to the nursing profession becoming members of the Victorian Order of Nurses.
CNC alumnus Roger Dunkley grew up across the street from Betty and Becky and said they were like great aunts to him.
When Dunkley was completing his criminology diploma at CNC, his father Terry spoke with Betty and Becky about helping fund a future award for nursing students.
Terry suggested the two women consider CNC’s nursing program that helps fill the need for nurses in the north.
When Becky died in 2018 at the age of 97 she willed everything to her best friend Betty, who never forgot the conversation they had with Terry about creating the award.
Then when Betty died in 2021, her will included a $100,000 donation to CNC for the creation of the new award.
“Their light shone so bright that now even after passing, they’re still having a warm positive impact on this world,” said Dunkley.
The new award not only honours Betty and Becky but also Becky’s mother Edith, who was also a nurse and graduated back in 1919.
The friends' contributions will provide four $1,000 awards annually to students at CNC and it will be known as the Three Sisters Endowment Bursary.
“These two worldly old ladies were pretty cool,” said Dunkley who detailed their full lives of travel, hobbies and charity work.
“Betty and Becky both never married nor had any children, instead their warm nurturing ways were expressed through caring for animals, cultivation of nature and giving to charities.”
Dunkley also commented on how important this donation is given that nurses are needed more than ever in the fight against COVID-19.
“It goes without saying the north, no doubt, could benefit from more trained personnel in the medical field. For the last five years the number of nurses from remote and rural areas has steadily declined, an already alarming statistic exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dunkley.
“It is an opportunity for the girls, even not being here in this world, but shining bright for everyone and helping the community and nurses.”
CNC president Dr. Dennis Johnson said this type of bursary will help average students get financial support.
“It is often average students that need that chance to succeed and this award is flexible enough for us to help a wide range of students,” said Johnson.
“It supports both sides of the equation, we need the nurses but we also need students to be able to afford to come to school.”
CNC’s nursing program provides education for students in health care assisting, practical nursing, and the Northern Collaborative Baccalaureate Nursing Program in conjunction with UNBC.
“This new award supports the ecosystem of Nursing in the North, providing support to students in all three nursing education streams offered at CNC,” said Dr. Tamara Chambers-Richards, dean of health sciences.
“This ensures motivated students have the means to succeed in the areas they’ve chosen: health care assisting, practical nursing or registered nursing.”
Students can apply for the Three Sisters Endowment Bursary through CNC’s Financial Aid and Awards page when the applications open at the end of October.
