A lifetime of giving to the community
Dawn Cropp with friend Josie Wellwood gives a small grant to Ruth King students despite being on a fixed income.
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Updated: July 02, 2009 1:26 PM
After a school year of hard work in the three Rs and spelling, four Ruth King elementary students walked away $25 richer.
The money, $100 in all, is no small gesture from a feisty 92-year-old on a limited income. After a lifetime of caring for children, Dawn Cropp still does what she can.
“She isn’t wealthy but this lady has a heart of gold,” said Josie Wellwood, Cropp’s friend who helps get her around.
It’s the fourth year Cropp has given money to Ruth King Grade 6 students who show the most improvement over the year in reading, writing, math and spelling. She does it to honour the memory of her grandson who attended Ruth King but passed away from a blood disorder in Grade 2, more than a decade ago.
Cropp isn’t one to cry, but the tears flow talking about her lost grandson.
“He loved this school,” Cropp said. “I figure he would have been graduating from high school this year.”
Ruth King principal Garry Manhas said the students were grateful their hard work was acknowledged. With hope, he encouraged the 11- and 12-year-olds to spend the money on a book or share it with a younger sibling.
“I can’t say enough about Dawn,” Manhas said. “It really says a lot about the character of people in this community. She’s on a fixed income and she still wants to support kids. People like her make our job a whole lot easier.”
“I thought if kids can achieve in the younger grades they’ll know they can do (well) in the older grades,” Cropp said.
Cropp has lived in Langford since 1948, after serving in England as a nurse during the Second World War, where, notably, she met King George VI and the Queen Mother.
Now the longest serving member with the Langford Women’s Institute, Cropp helped spearhead what would become the Goldstream Food Bank. Never one to sit still, Cropp worked well into her 80s, including on political campaigns for former MLA Rick Kasper and current Langford Mayor Stew Young.
Over the years, she and her late husband Ernest were foster parents for more than 100 kids, with the first in 1952. The Capital Region awarded their efforts as Foster Parents of the Year in 1977.
They adopted three and had one of their own.
“If I had my life to live over again, I would have adopted more,” Cropp said. “I love kids and would do anything for kids.”
editor@goldstreamgazette.com
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