Bieber Family Foundation

Bill and Sharon Bieber are not your ordinary retired couple. For starters, they didn’t want to wait until retirement to volunteer. “We saw a lot of colleagues who worked hard, saved their money and planned to retire early so they could volunteer and give back,” Sharon said. “Sadly, it didn’t often work out that way.”

Bill is a doctor and Sharon is a teacher. Throughout their careers, they have routinely volunteered on short-term, international service trips. In their 30’s, they spent several years in Papua New Guinea. Bill served firstly as a doctor with Wycliffe Bible Translators, and then worked with the PNG Health Department. They have also served as the Southeast Asia Coordinators for Medical Ambassadors Canada, training in community health evangelism.

After Sharon’s father passed away, the Biebers considered establishing a family foundation. They wanted a way for family members to pool their funds over time and have them available in order to respond immediately to needs around the world. Their goal was to make it easy both for members of the family to add to the fund and for their children and grandchildren to administer.

They spoke with their Abundance Canada Gift Planning Consultant, and within a short period of time, they had established an account that fit their needs perfectly.

“During our first family meeting, it was satisfying to see the kids discussing which charities we should help.” Sharon said. The goal is to have annual meetings for the extended family to discuss which charities to support.

Faith is an important influence in their desire to give. Bill grew up in an Evangelical Free church and Sharon was raised in an Alliance church. Bill offers some insight into their generosity: “We grew up this way. Our churches and our parents taught us. And our professions are a gift that we can share. We can show the love of Christ through our work.”