A Sturgeon County farm family has been recognized as St. Albert’s philanthropist of the year.
Mayor Cathy Heron presented John, Jenny, Bill and the late Phyllis Bocock with the 2019 St. Albert Philanthropy Award on Dec. 18 at the Sturgeon Valley Golf and Country Club. The award recognizes those whose donations significantly contribute to the success of non-profits operating in St. Albert.
The award was part of the St. Albert Community Foundation’s Night of Philanthropy, which also saw some $65,000 distributed to about 20 St. Albert-area non-profits.
The Bococks might not fit the traditional definition of philanthropists, but when you consider their provision of 777 acres of farmland to the University of Alberta, the $50,000 they contributed to the solar array atop the St. Albert United Church and everything else they’ve done, they’re an obvious choice, said Heron.
“They’ve always had a huge focus on the planet and sustainable farming, and they’ve made it their mission in life to make sure other farmers around the world share that faith.”
Faith and generosity
Heron said the Bococks have supported scholarships at the U of A and in India and volunteered for numerous farm and environmental advocacy groups, including the Roseridge Citizens’ Committee, which worked to get scrubbers installed on a sour gas plant near Cardiff in the 1980s.
“This family exemplifies the adage, ‘Be the change you want to see in the world.’”
That adage is one of the core principles of Moral Rearmament (now known as Initiatives of Change) – an international faith movement that emphasizes personal reform as a way to transform the world, which has played a significant role in the lives of the Bococks.
John said he got involved with Moral Rearmament in 1958 after hearing a talk from a group of international farmers at the Varscona Theatre. He had been treating Bill poorly for years, and the talk motivated him to reconcile with him and volunteer with the group.
Jenny, John’s wife, said that movement helped her parents save their rocky marriage, and she grew up watching them help others in the community. One pivotal moment happened during a trip to India in 1956, where she recalled seeing thousands of people living and sleeping on the streets.
“It really, really shook me. It made me want to do something to help the world and not just live a selfish life.”
The Bococks travelled around the world through Moral Rearmament, promoting sustainable living and moral leadership and gaining new perspective on life.
One such trip brought them to Ethiopia, where Jenny recalled seeing a farmer with three goats scratching out a living on rocky soils.
“It’s very painful to see all this beautiful black soil being built on (here),” she said.
John said the family strongly believed in preserving good farmland, but could not find a way to do it on their own farm. Hearing that the U of A needed land, they agreed to sell 777 acres of their farm to them in 2008 at a substantial discount, creating the St. Albert Research Station. At the time, it was the largest land gift ever made to a Canadian university.
John said it’s a lot easier nowadays for farmers to get conservation easements and that significant amounts of rangeland are now being preserved in southern Alberta.
“A lot of civilizations crashed because they mistreated their farmland,” he noted, adding people should be willing to pay more to put industrial sites on poorer land to preserve farmland.
Jenny said she’s met a lot of grateful students running experiments at the farm in the years since, as well as celebrities such as former prime minister Kim Campbell.
“You get a certain joy out of helping people,” she said.
“It’s very heart-warming.”
Jenny said philanthropy is all about how you treat people in your everyday life.
“If we all started caring for each other’s children as much as our own, I think it would make a great difference in the world.”
Visit bit.ly/2Z5u8xZ for details on the philanthropist of the year award.
