Residential-school survivor hikes mission donation to $50,000

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/03/2009 (6239 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

William Woodford wowed Winnipeggers when he donated $40,000 from his residential school settlement to an inner-city homeless shelter.

When the 85-year-old visited Siloam Mission Tuesday, he presented them with another cheque for $10,000.

“I’m hoping for the best for the people,” Woodford said quietly, surrounded by reporters and cameras.

He doesn’t use the services of the mission but has friends and relatives who are among the Princess Street shelter’s clients — many of them residential school survivors or their descendants.

The Fairford First Nation member spent his school years at Elkhorn Indian Residential School.

“Mostly, it was bad. There was too much abuse,” said Woodford, a Second World War veteran who didn’t go into details or dwell on his past.

“The future looks good,” said the pensioner, wearing a fur hat and looking forward to getting away from the media glare. “I’m not much of a talker.”

He was thanked by the mission and honoured at a news conference there today by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.

“His act of generosity is a powerful act of kindness, compassion and forgiveness,” said Grand Chief Ron Evans. He noted that the residential schools ripped families apart and robbed children of their parents’ love and care.

“Obviously it has not been destroyed in you.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca