Greater Victoria Green Team and TLC at Alston-Stewart property for an Ivy pulling event. Photo credit Greater Victoria Green Team.

Volunteers pulling ivy together at Alston-Stewart. Photo credit Greater Victoria Green Team.

The Blenkinsop Valley, part of the Alston-Stewart property

Generous legacy donor Joan Alston-Stewart.

Joan Alston-Stewart (nee Lohbrunner) moved to the Blenkinsop Valley as a young girl. She wished to see the lands she and her late husband Gordon had called home for the decades protected to advance the biodiversity of the Blenkinsop Valley. In the years prior to her passing, Joan met with TLC staff and board to discuss her wish to protect the urban greenspace surrounding her home for birds and other wildlife.

Joan passed away on February 3, 2020, at 89, and gifted TLC with a bequest of three adjacent properties in the Blenkinsop Valley, funds to maintain the properties in perpetuity, and a $40,000 gift to Abkhazi Garden from her estate. The $8.8 million bequest is the largest donation in TLC’s 25-year history.

Located near Blenkinsop Lake and the Lochside Trail in Saanich, the three adjacent properties span more than 8 acres of wetland, Garry oak, and Douglas-fir habitat. 1074 Donwood Drive (4.94 acres), 4386 Lochside Drive (2.14 acres), and 4394 Lochside Drive (1.00 acre) each consist of single- or dual-family dwellings with significant greenspace. TLC was named among 17 charities and institutions receiving bequeathed gifts from Joan and will receive one third of the liquid assets of the estate; TLC’s portion is valued at approximately $3.5 million.

Apart from her gift toward Abkhazi Garden, funds donated from the bequest will be used to maintain the Blenkinsop Valley properties in perpetuity in accordance with Joan’s wishes.

TLC now holds restoration events in Blenkinsop Valley to help protect biodiversity and take care of the land that Joan trusted TLC to protect. For more information about Planned Gift options, please visit www.conservancy.bc.ca/legacy or contact lcross@conservancy.bc.ca with your specific questions.

Alston-Stewart Estate News

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