The Kirk Foundation

The History of DAVID Kirk is interesting to say the least. David Kirk does not know the meaning of retirement. Since officially retiring in 1987, he’s sold his publishing company in England, moved to Australia, established investments around the world, bought and trained a thoroughbred stud which successfully competed in the UK and Ireland, and managed Sunshine Coast hotels.

But all of that comes second to his latest project – the Kirk Foundation.
Mr Kirk and a board of directors set up the self-sustaining trust with the goal of making a difference to the Coast through education, medical research, sports and aged care.

“I had been thinking about it (the foundation) for quite a while, but needed the right people to pull it together,” he said. “I didn’t have the right people to help, and things this size, you can’t do on your own. It’s really quite a job. Then, with the help of my PA, Mary, and her connections, it happened.” After many coffee meetings with connected Coast businesspeople, the Kirk Foundation was officially launched last May 2006.

“Like all of us, I wanted to do something but just wasn’t sure how to put it into action,” Mr Kirk said. “I get huge satisfaction from the foundation, as we give the money to deserving groups and we receive quarterly reports to see how they are progressing. “The Coast is a very special place to me. As far as I can see, not a lot of philanthropic work is done on the Sunshine Coast.”

To apply for funding, a group needs to be a registered charity and put forward a proposal. Some of the recipients so far include the University of the Sunshine Coast, Step Up and local surf clubs.

The biggest project funded to date is Suncare Community Services’ Recovery Program.

“None of this would have been possible without the huge assistance of chairman Dennis Donovan, and Les Heil and the rest of the board,” Mr Kirk said.

“We hope to help the Coast and maybe broaden our services to south-east Queensland within the next five years.”

Article provided by the SUNSHINE COAST DAILY, Monday, February 6, 2006. Click here for A PDF of this story. You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to be able to open this file.