How the Taylor-Jacobsen Family Award Came to be

When Linda Marie (Busch) Jacobsen was a young girl, she dreamed of becoming an astrophysicist or a heavy duty mechanic. Unfortunately, there was no money for university and for her generation, opportunities for women in either of those professions were not encouraged. When she passed away, her daughter, Tricia, wanted to put some of her inheritance towards creating a student award in Linda’s memory – to give other young women the chance that her mom never had. As a result, the Linda Marie (Busch) Jacobsen Memorial Award was created in 2020 and the family made their first award in 2021.

Since the award was created, Tricia’s family has come together to support young people entering the trades or STEM fields, with a preference given to young women interested in careers in those areas. And in a full circle moment, when Tricia’s daughter, Rebecca graduated last year and chose to pursue a trade herself (following in the steps of her maternal grandfather), this award became even more significant. While Tricia and her family couldn’t be involved in the process of reviewing applications when her daughter chose to apply for the award in her grandmother’s honour (CRA guidelines require that award recipients have an ‘arms’ length relationship with any decision makers), Rebecca applied for and won a handful of ACF awards to help her with her education. ACF is fortunate to have a number of donors who value and support education in the trades.

Now that Tricia and her family have given out a number of awards over the years, they took some time to amend their fund agreement last year, including updating the name of the award along with some of the criteria. Her mom will always have a special place and the criteria will still reflect Linda’s hopes for her own education along with other family member’s involvement and interests in trades and STEM.

Tricia worked for ACF for 5 years and saw first hand the impact, joy, & motivation that student awards give to young people each year. She’s presented awards, talked to student award recipients, and worked to support applicants through the process. Her heart for the program and its impact in our local community shines through and it’s why her family has become so involved, engaged, and excited each year Linda’s award has been presented. Now presented as the Jacobsen-Taylor Family Award, Tricia’s family is demonstrating the evolution of student awards and how this family has embraced being a student award maker now and into the future.

Would you and your family like to become a student award maker? Make a difference in the lives of young people today, tomorrow, & forever. Contact us to learn how you can get started with $50/month.