A year ago, Manitoba lost a legend – an extraordinary friend, organizer, mentor, activist, leader and devoted family man – Eugene Kostyra. To honour Eugene’s exceptional contributions and legacy, the Eugene Kostyra Memorial Fund has been established as a permanent endowment fund at The Winnipeg Foundation by the Manitoba Federation of Labour.
Eugene dedicated much of his life to fighting for working people, for social justice and for a better, fairer and more equitable world. His kind heart, sharp intellect and legendary strategic skills, combined with an unparalleled work ethic, put Eugene at the heart of many successful campaigns, community projects, organizing drives and social movements. Throughout his life, Eugene was a mentor, teacher and advisor to countless NDP politicians and campaigners, union organizers and community leaders – he drew out the best in people, building them up and helping them grow and push their limits. Eugene kept people as the focus of everything he did. He brought people together by building on what they had in common. He always started from “yes” and applied his signature “let’s make it happen” attitude to push past any hurdles and get things done, while reminding everyone to have fun along the way. To learn more about Eugene, click here.
The Eugene Kostyra Memorial Fund will support scholarships for students graduating from St. Johns High School, where Eugene attended as a young man. The school is located in the north end of Winnipeg, where Eugene lived much of his life with his wonderful family and represented his community as an elected MLA. Having dropped-out of high school before graduating, Eugene always made education a top priority for his kids and grandkids (and the many pupils he took under his wing), and he was very proud to receive an honourary high school diploma from St. Johns after he retired. The scholarship will be awarded to St. Johns students with demonstrated commitment and passion for social justice and human rights work who are pursuing post-secondary education in a university, college or apprenticeship program.
Your gift will be pooled and invested with the generated income distributed as student awards. As the original gift remains invested, your contribution will continue to benefit scholarship recipients in perpetuity.
