VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A Vancouver heiress has left behind a very generous donation for three groups.

Nearly $40 million dollars is being donated by the late Judith Jardine.

The Vancouver Foundation is receiving the bulk of it: $34 million. It will use some of the cash to fight youth homelessness. President and CEO Faye Wightman says 40 per cent of kids in government care eventually end up on the streets

“[A gift like this is] rare nowadays… where it’s unrestricted and where the beneficiary is allowed to use it to the best of their ability,” she tells us.

UBC and the BC Conference of the United Church of Canada were also named beneficiaries.

Will Guest, who graduated from UBC’s medical faculty yesterday, says this money will go a long way.

“It helps to ensure that attending medical school remains accessible to people from all backgrounds and the financial pressures will not compromise medical students’ focus on their studies,” he says.

Little is known about Jardine, who had wealth and privilege. She was the sole survivor of two prominent Vancouver familiies. She never married and died in 2006 after a lengthy battle with dementia.