For the past five years, Grant Carter has seen first-hand how generosity can make a difference to the Taranaki community. Now, he is putting that belief into practice by leaving a gift in his own Will.

As General Manager of the Taranaki Health Foundation, Grant has watched community generosity, as he puts it, turn “good healthcare into great healthcare”, funding projects that enhance services, improve facilities and ensure people receive the very best care possible here in Taranaki. Over the past five years, he has worked closely with local businesses and community groups to fundraise for the Project Maunga Stage 2 developments, including the Renal Unit, Taranaki Cancer Centre, Te Puna Wai Kātea and the New East Wing Building.

This Wills Month, Grant has decided to lead by example. He has chosen to leave a gift in his own Will to the Taranaki Health Fund, an endowment fund held with Taranaki Foundation.
“We all need our money while we are alive,” Grant says. “But whatever I have left over, I would like it to do some good for the community, helping to ensure future generations continue to have access to outstanding healthcare close to home.”

A Taranaki connection that runs deep

Grant is a fifth-generation ‘Taranakian’, born and raised in Spotswood. After leaving school, he joined Air New Zealand at just 18 and spent the next three decades working his way up to Branch Manager. His career took him around the world, but wherever the job led him, Taranaki was always home.

“I travelled a lot. But when I came home, I always felt like I was really at home,” he says. “The mountain, the coastline, the people. This is where I belong.”

His commitment to community started long before his career in the not-for-profit sector. In the early 1980s, Grant’s parents helped establish the Ironside Vehicle Society in New Plymouth, providing transport for people who use wheelchairs. Like many community organisations, fundraising quickly became a family affair.

“Community work is in our DNA,” Grant says. “I grew up seeing Mum and Dad giving their time because they believed in making Taranaki a better place. Looking back now, I can see how much that shaped me. Being involved in our community, and what I do in my day job at the Taranaki Health Foundation, doesn’t feel like work to me.”

Practising what he preaches

Ironically, despite spending years encouraging others to think about the legacy they wanted to leave, updating his own Will wasn’t something Grant had always considered.

“In all honesty, it wasn’t something I had really thought about until this became my career,” he says. Over the last five years Grant has had countless conversations with people about leaving a gift in their Will and supporting the causes they care about, and eventually, those conversations became personal. “I remember thinking, if I believe in this so strongly for everyone else, why wouldn’t I do it myself?”

It’s a philosophy Grant often sums up in four simple words, “turning good into great”.

“That’s what we talk about every day at the Taranaki Health Foundation,” he says. “Healthcare in Taranaki is already good. Philanthropy allows our community to make it even better.”

Eventually, Grant realised the idea didn’t just apply to healthcare. It made him think about the legacy he wanted to leave, and leaving a gift in his Will felt like a natural way to practise what he preaches.

A personal reason

For Grant, the decision to support acute and critical care is deeply personal. Around 20 years ago, his mum was admitted to intensive care with heart failure. Watching the team care for her during one of the hardest periods his family had faced changed the way he thought about healthcare.

“It left a lasting impression on me,” Grant says.

That experience continues to shape his work today. Over the past five years, Grant has helped raise more than $2 million for intensive care improvements, contributing to the more than $20 million the Taranaki Health Foundation has raised for healthcare enhancements across the region.

For Grant, there’s another reason acute and critical care matters so much. “Taranaki sits out on its own,” he says. “When something serious happens, you don’t want families worrying about whether the care they need is hours away. Having outstanding healthcare close to home matters. It matters for our families, our neighbours and every person who calls this place home.”

Why the Taranaki Health Fund?

When it came to deciding where to leave his gift, the choice felt natural. The Taranaki Health Foundation and Taranaki Foundation have worked alongside each other for many years through the Taranaki Health Fund, making it an obvious home for Grant’s own legacy.

“It just felt like the stars aligned,” he says. “I trust Taranaki Foundation. I’ve seen first-hand how they look after people’s generosity and honour donor wishes. I know my gift won’t simply be spent once. It’ll become part of something permanent that keeps generating income for healthcare in Taranaki long after I’m gone.”

 

Every gift matters

What surprised Grant most was how straightforward the process was. His advice to anyone thinking about leaving a gift but unsure where to start is simple: have the conversation.

“Talk to Taranaki Foundation, or your trusted professional advisor, and understand what your options are,” he says. “You don’t have to make any decisions straight away. Just start the conversation.”
If there’s one misconception Grant hopes to challenge this Wills Month, it’s that only wealthy people can leave a meaningful legacy.

“The size of the gift isn’t what matters,” he says. “What matters is making the decision to give. Small gifts, combined over time, become something really significant.”

When Grant thinks about who might benefit from his own gift one day, he doesn’t picture anyone in particular. He pictures the next family facing a medical emergency, the next patient needing urgent care and the next generation of Taranaki people who deserve access to exceptional healthcare close to home.

“If you’re passionate about something and authentic about something, it works,” he says. “It’s about leaving a legacy that continues to strengthen Taranaki for generations to come.”

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