Some people volunteer time to their community, through their involvement in various organizations and charities.
Doug Osborne has served on the Bradford West Gwillimbury & District Community Foundation, and on the Bradford Arts Centre board – helping out in many ways, including collecting tickets on concert nights – but his biggest contributions have been financial.
Years of hard work with Bell Canada, often in remote areas under difficult conditions, and wise investment of the proceeds, have left him in a position to help whenever he sees a need.
Osborne is proudest of his engagement in Kiva.org – an organization that arranges micro-loans to struggling entrepreneurs in third world countries, many of them women.
He was introduced to the program by his late wife Pierrette, who learned about Kiva in 2005.
“We joined in 2008,” Osborne said. Now, 11 years later, his microloans number 1,251 and total over $31,500 U.S., helping to launch businesses and agricultural projects in countries that include the Philippines and Senegal.
In one year alone, he financed 264 loans in 30 countries.
When the loans are paid back, the money is made available to the next struggling small-scale entrepreneur.
Some might question whether the lenders ever get their money back. “You know how much money I’ve lost? 400 dollars,” Osborne said.
The microloan program reflects Osborne’s own philosophy. He doesn’t think of himself as ‘lucky’, or credit his own initiative for his success.
“I like to think somebody gave me a chance, and that’s how I live my life,” he said.
How he got hired by Bell is a perfect example.
“I failed school. I was not a scholar,” Osborne said. In fact, his mother had to provide extra tutoring to help him through high school, “and I just barely passed.”
When he graduated from Grade 12, he applied to Bell for a job, and the interviewer told him to leave a phone number where he could be reached. “I told him, sir, I have a bit of a problem… We didn’t have a phone!” Osborne said.
He got over the obstacle by asking a neighbour if he could use their phone number – and six months later, received the phone call telling him he was hired.
Osborne has seen the evolution of the telecommunications industry, from telephone operators, to satellite communications, and worked on the installation of the DEW Line for NORAD during the peak of the Cold War.
Now 83, he has been living in Bradford for the last nine years. He continues to support Kiva, as well as Sleeping Children Around the World – a charity that provides bed kits to children in developing countries.
Osborne also supports numerous local causes. He has made substantial donations to the Community Foundation, Bradford United Church and the Bradford Arts Centre where he helped to pay for the new classrooms and gallery space in the church basement.
He has supported the Lake Simcoe Conservation Foundation, bursary programs at the local high schools, and makes a point of helping wherever he sees a need – which can mean simply offering a ride to someone struggling to get home.
It gives him joy, “knowing that you’re doing the right thing.”
Osborne credits the Bible, and his mother, with inspiring his philanthropy.
“My mother used to say, Douglas – you’re nobody until somebody needs you,” he said.
Osborne has tried to provide the same wisdom to his children, encouraging them to pursue what they love, to be the best they can be, and to give back.
“Everything I’ve done, I don’t take credit for,” he said. “I’m part of a big plan. I’m just part of the plan.”
Osborne remembers asking his wife Pierrette why she married him. Her answer? “You always had a plan!”
