In my twenties, I spent a few years as a hospital volunteer at a large university hospital. Each week I’d spend ten hours a night on Friday and Saturday, visiting with patients too anxious to sleep.

My role was to just be. To sit and listen. To make them comfortable until they dosed off or help them write a thank you note to someone who sent flowers or a card. Parents talked about their children. Children talk about their parents, and everyone shared what they were passionate about.

I discovered a lot about myself from that experience. I learned to be patient. I learned people become more of themselves when they’re not feeling well and they have time to think. If a patient was quiet or social at home, they were very quiet or exceedingly social in the hospital. Any pretense fell away and personalities grew stronger.

I valued my time volunteering at the hospital because I learned to listen and appreciate to what matters to people. Today I find myself enjoying that same experience at the Community Foundation.

Many people come to the Community Foundation to create a charitable fund that will spring into life after they are gone. Often called a planned or legacy gift, giving through an estate enables donors to benefit from an asset, like a retirement plan, business interest or home, during their lifetime, then gift that asset to charity at their passing to help others.

Sitting with donors as they consider their charitable legacy through a Community Foundation fund creates that same opportunity to listen and learn.

Donors often share detailed, personal stories about groups that had a tremendous impact on their lives. They acknowledge, with gratitude, schools, churches, hospitals, and nonprofits that were there for them when they needed them most.

For those who spent a lifetime volunteering for organizations, elevating those nonprofits to “family” status by providing for them in a charitable giving plan comes naturally.

Some donors create a charitable fund to mark important milestones: birth, graduation, marriage, or retirement.

A legacy gift enables donors to add to these charitable funds and become more generous after their lifetime.  Legacy gifts, because they are made with assets other than income, are more likely to be the largest gifts any of us will make. How fitting that those gifts can become endowments at the Community Foundation and give back for generations.

Listening to donors and supporting what they love, forever, is what the Community Foundation is all about. We’re here to listen, understand and follow your intentions and help you create the charitable legacy you want for the community you love.

What will your charitable legacy be? I’d like to know. Call me at 717-337-0060 or email rserpe@adamscountycf.org.  Ralph Serpe is President and CEO of the Adams County Community Foundation.