Page 12 - ECF_Thrive-Sept-2025

Generosity
Education
GIVING BACK,
DAY BY DAY
Seanna Collins and her husband are supporting
the community forever through a will intention
By ECF Staff
FOR DECADES, SEANNA COLLINS
has been a familiar face and voice in
Edmonton’s media and charitable scene.
She’s interviewed countless community
leaders over the years. One conversation
while hosting Day by Day, CFRN TV’s
daytime lifestyle show in the early ’90s,
really stayed with her.
“I had the pleasure of interviewing
Robert Stollery and John Poole. They
had just helped establish Edmonton
Community Foundation (ECF),”
Collins recalls. “They were passionate,
down-to-earth, and driven to make
a difference. That interview planted
a seed. My husband and I decided to
set up an ECF endowment fund — one
that will support the many causes we
care about.”
Collins began her fund planning
with Kathy Hawkesworth, ECF’s former
Director of Donor Services, and now
works with Philanthropy Advisor Lisa
Dayanandan. The smooth transition
has reinforced her trust in ECF’s lasting
stewardship. “Working with Kathy and
now Lisa, you can come in with a plan
in mind, and there are people at the
Foundation who will help make your
dreams come true,” she says.
ECF’s grant process ensures
accountability and honours donor
intent, which Collins, a detail-driven
professional, appreciates.
“I want to know our money is going
where it’s supposed to,” she says. “With
ECF, I don’t have to worry — there’s
no stress.”
Collins’s decision to work with ECF
was guided by empathy for those who
will manage her estate. Initially, she
listed dozens of individual charities
in her will but later updated her fund
agreement to simplify the process.
“I didn’t want my executor to have
to write 50 cheques to 50 different
charities,” she says. “With ECF, it’s one
cheque — and the Foundation takes
care of the rest. That’s peace of mind.”
Collins also gives back by emceeing
fundraisers, collecting donations for
women and children, and volunteering
with Dogs with Wings Assistance Dog
Society — where she boards dogs in
training as service animals, as well as
sitting on the organization’s board.
“This city has given me so much,”
she says. “Along with my husband, this is
our way of giving back to the place that’s
been our home for so many years.”
Reflecting on her journey, Collins
says estate planning through ECF has
brought clarity and calm. “It makes
me so happy to know that long after
my husband and I are gone, our fund
will continue to grow and make a
difference. That’s the legacy we are
very proud to leave.”
12 Together we thrive