Making a difference
The Mina Fund is dedicated to permanently improving the lives of disadvantaged children in India by providing opportunities for better education.
"Education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty. It saves children from being exploited as child labourers and gives them the ability to permanently improve their lives.”— Sarina MacKenzie
Our Story
Dr. Jemima (Mina) MacKenzie (MD 1904, LLD 1940) stopped at nothing when it came to helping the poor and sick of India. She prevented an outbreak of cholera after inoculating people night and day. She learned how to perform cataract surgery by correspondence. She once detonated dynamite to blast a well and supply a rural community with safe drinking water. She built hospitals, ran orphanages, and adopted dozens of abandoned children.
Resourceful, determined, gutsy. These words seem like understatements when it comes to describing Jemima MacKenzie, who graduated from Dalhousie Medical School in 1904. The spinster daughter of a Pictou County, Canada farmer, Dr. MacKenzie spent more than 30 years of her life in India, where she worked tirelessly to positively impact the lives of thousands of poor and disadvantaged children, women, and men.
Dr. Mina felt that every person mattered, and ripples of the impact she made on the lives of others are still being felt today.
Dr. Mina first needed to overcome many obstacles, including earning her MD degree from Dalhousie University, at a time when most medical schools (and male students) did not consider females capable of being doctors. Mina's courage, persistence and resiliency guided her selfless service in India. For her work over more than three decades, Mina was awarded the country's highest honour, the Kaisar-I-Hind medal from the Viceroy of India.
Dr. Mina showed that getting actively involved in helping the poor and sick makes a positive and enduring difference. Mina's love and compassion made an indelible impression on the children she adopted.
The Mina Fund, established by Mina's adopted daughter Sarina, has changed the lives of hundreds of children and has brought hope to many who need support and motivation, so that they too can achieve what everyone hopes for - a better life.
Empowerment through education
For the past 33 years, we have been quietly touching the lives of a growing number of young people and their families. By providing opportunities for education, we are giving children a chance for a better tomorrow, while lightening the burden of today.
A dollar goes a long way in India, and enables us to profoundly change the lives of those we serve. What does it cost to make such a powerful difference in young lives? A child’s school expenses in India can be covered for a month for $40 - about the price of just one night at the movies!
The Mina Fund measures the bottom line not by dollars donated, but by the number of lives changed, and the positive social and environmental impact made. We hope you share our excitement, and our vision of a more just and equitable society in which all children can look forward to a prosperous, fulfilling life.
Permanently breaking the cycle of poverty
The Dr. Mina Mackenzie Memorial Trust Fund was founded in the belief that as children are empowered to realize their potential, they bloom, thus enriching the world we share. Today, we support an average of 100 children every year, helping them graduate from high school which, in turn, leads to better lives for them and their families.
The Mina Fund depends wholly on donations to continue the legacy of Dr. Mina MacKenzie . In spite of incredible challenges, as a woman from a poor family born in 1872 in Waterside, Nova Scotia, Dr. Mina graduated with her MD in 1904, and devoted her life to helping the poor and sick of India.
Throughout Dr. Mina’s time in India, her work in medicine and education was supported by many people and groups. After 35 years of service, Dr. Mina retired to Pictou, Nova Scotia, where she set up a hospital in her home and dedicated herself to caring for those in rural areas. Her compassion, love, and commitment for the disadvantaged continues through the work of the Dr. Mina MacKenzie Memorial Trust Fund and its support of schools, orphanages, an AIDS Hospice, and the hospital that Dr. Mina founded in India.
You can make a difference
Your compassion and generosity ensures our continuing success in this life-changing work, one child at a time.
Founders
Sarina & William Bayer
In 1990, Sarina and William Bayer established The Dr. Mina MacKenzie Memorial Trust (The Mina Fund). As one of Dr. Mina’s adopted daughters, Sarina wanted to continue Dr. Mina’s legacy.
Sarina and William guided fund activities based on the belief that, as children are empowered to realize their potential, they bloom and enrich the world we all share. For almost 25 years, Sarina and William both devoted considerable time and energy raising funds to support Mina Fund activities. When William died in early 2011, Sarina continued to operate the fund with the help of her sons.
At the beginning of 2015, Sarina passed the torch to her son Bill Bayer and niece Donna MacKenzie. As the next generation of Dr. Mina's descendants, Bill and Donna believe that the principles the Fund was founded on are just as necessary today.
Our Team
Bill Bayer
Bill leverages his IT Consulting background and former career as CIO of a major Canadian company to focus on improving efficiency and IT processes. The goal for the Mina Fund is to maximize the impact of every dollar donated by our supporters and raised through fundraising activities.
Donna Mackenzie
Donna's connection with many local artists has been helpful for fundraising events such as Charity Auctions, which contribute financially towards the Mina Fund's charitable initiatives.
Sonali Pathak
Sonali is the founder of Reybotic Inc. - a technology firm on a mission to empower businesses with game-changing solutions. She has played a crucial role in the Mina Fund's integration and automation efforts by modernizing their website using Reybotic Inc.'s technology platform.