Islanders representing community non-profits and the Orcas Island Community Foundation (OICF) sat down last Friday morning, june 18, to share “The Power of Stories.”
The event was sponsored by Endow Orcas, a collaboration led by the OICF among nonprofit organizations to create ‘planned gifts’ from community members that will one day mature and fund endowments for non-profit organizations. Planned gifts include bequests (from will or trusts), charitable trusts of various types, and other planning strategies.The interest on endowment funds will be used to support island non-profits in their mission.
Retiring OICF Board Member and Endow Orcas Chair Joe Cohen facilitated the meeting, and described the treasure of stories, and the potential for legacy-giving and endowments to bring fulfillment to people. The group engaged in three exercises to draw out each person’s story and learn of their passions and motivation, as a model for engaging potential legacy-builders.
The first exercise was a circuit of the room, participants giving their name, describing the “people that I come from,” and relating what they learned or received from their people. Along with many stories of recent immigration to America, themes of community service and developing a sense of integrity came out in many of the stories. Later discussions hearkened back frequently to Orcas Island Education Foundation President Janet Brownell’s comments on the value of listening to the stories of others.
The gathering then broke out into smaller groupings of three to describe photos of families, “then and now,” and when the larger group reconvened, people shared the stories of other members of their “trio.”
The last exercise was a display of three representative objects while telling what they have meant in the person’s life.
The group discussed the ways in which just learning more of a person’s life story can help ensure that the “intangible” legacy they would like to perpetuate can continue for the benefit of future generations.
In addition to Cohen, Helen Bee, Diane Berreth, Margie Doyle, Martha Farish and Nanette Pyne serve on the Endow Orcas Committee.
The OICF and Endow Orcas plan to build up Legacy Giving on a smaller scale and over a longer term, than most Community Foundations, says Cohen. “We hope, in 3 to 10 years, to reach a good pool of philanthropists that will really sustain the island,” he said.
To that end, Endow Orcas proposes a “Legacy Circle” that will honor donors past and present who have made or intend to make, Legacy-style planned gifts. A steering committee led by Endow Orcas and the OICF Board will work to detail the formation and announcement of the Legacy Circle, with the tentative goal of a formal introduction of the Legacy Circle at the OICF Annual Luncheon in September.
