Estate of Anne Sabat

Durham College (DC) and the Ontario Tech University (Ontario Tech) announced a $900,000 donation from the Estate of Anne Sabat. The gift will be shared equally by the two institutions to create scholarships and bursaries for students to pursue post-secondary education.

Ms. Sabat, who passed away in 2015, was a longtime resident of Oshawa whose family built a successful dry goods and retail business after arriving in Canada in the early 1900s. Although Ms. Sabat’s father and mother had little formal education, they strongly believed in its benefits and this commitment was carried on by their children, and in particular Anne, who strongly supported the college and the university.

This generous bequest will create bursaries for graduates from DC’s Centre for Success (CFS) program. The program is a partnership between the college and five local school boards designed to enable in-risk secondary school students to complete their high school academic requirements in a college setting via access to smaller class sizes, flexible schedules and increased one-to-one access to teachers. Approximately $9,000 will be distributed annually to CFS graduates who are in need of financial assistance to continue their post-secondary education. In the event that none of the centre’s graduates meet the eligibility criteria for a given year, funds will be made available to other DC students facing financial hardship to help them continue their education.