Former American turned Queenstown resident Yevrah Ornstein sadly died of cancer last week but is leaving millions of dollars to charity.

He has stipulated the sale of his Lakeside Estates Solar home and other investments to go to four international charities along with NZ's KidsCan and Save The Children NZ.

Ornstein's neighbour Peter Thodey suggested that he set up a trust before he passed.

“We were talking one day about what he wanted to do with his estate and I said, ‘why not set up a trust?’ ”

Ornstein made notes while he was in the hospital about the charities he wanted to help, which include US-based charities Nature Resources Defence Council and Rocky Mountain Institute, Animal Welfare Institute and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

“Alongside my passion [for] environmental issues resided my always-present reverence for education — be it educating people about the climate crisis along with protecting that we were endowed with by virtue of being stewards of the natural environment.

“The charities I have chosen are doing an excellent job protecting and serving children as well as nature.”

Friend Kris Lukaszewicz says he was “quite a generous man — I know he‘s been supporting a number of charities throughout his life”.

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