Bill Rawlins

To know Bill is to be inspired by him. He can’t help it – he brings out the best in whomever he meets up with! Bill is the father of three amazing kids and is now a grandpa to his new twin granddaughters.Bill spent 29 years in education – 4 of those as a classroom teacher and the remaining 25 as a middle and secondary school administrator. In July 2006, as he retired from his last principal-ship in Parksville, B.C., Bill chose to invest his energy in new pursuits: helping out LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) in any way possible.

Since his first Hero Holiday trip with us in 2005 to Dominican Republic, Bill has led teams there eight times. He has also led seven different teams on our Mexico Hero Holidays and acts in the capacity of LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute)’s Senior Consultant. Bill is also one of our monthly philanthropists.I believe in LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) because I am passionate about our vision to empower emerging generations to change their world by living their lives with purpose. On my first Hero Holiday, I was part of an awareness tour through a predominantly Haitian refugee town in Dominican Republic. Never had I seen such poverty! I knew my life was completely changed as a result. On one of my earlier trips leading a team in Mexico, I walked into a cemetery in Vicente Guerrero and was overwhelmed with the hundreds of graves of children under the age of 5 years. And finally, three years ago, in Dominican Republic, we found a little girl named Danica who was a helpless victim of poverty. We worked together to try to save her and get her help, but in the end, she died from preventable causes and she was only 18 months old. The hardest part of that reality for me was that she was one of 28,000 children that died that day around the world – needlessly. These experiences not only solidified my belief in LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) in what we are doing in our own nation, but also by bringing those same young people to offer hope to the world outside of theirs.I am a monthly philanthropist because I LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute)-LY believe in the work that we do. The Think Day presentation is undoubtedly one of the very best (if not the best) that I ever brought to our school, the SOL program provides future leaders with fabulously rich experiences traveling across Canada and in Mexico, and our Hero Holidays have forever changed my life and become my life’s passion. Where else could I work in a humanitarian capacity alongside such wonderful students and young people?LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) has become my main charity of support and I encourage any and all friends and supporters of LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) to become monthly philanthropists. I am very confident in the Board of Directors and the staff that the support I bring is going directly towards outstanding programs that are impacting young lives. Lives are being changed, families are being changed, communities are being changed, and nations are, can, and will be changed. This is LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute)’s raison d’être and this is LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute)’s success!See? We warned you that he would inspire you!