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Blueprint Blueprint
August 2024 August 2024
Even if you live to be 150, you need still a plan August is National Make-A-Will Month For many busy Americans, this yearly reminder is just the motivation they need to finally sit down and create their last will and testament. Once they do, many find the process isn’t as long or tedious as they anticipated. Do you still need to make your will? Whether you’ve been too busy or simply don’t know how, here are three great reasons that will motivate you to write your will this August
August is “National Make-A-Will Month”
1. It’s an important legal document everyone should have
All adults should have a will - it’s a powerful document that lets you distribute your property and protect your loved ones after you pass away. Onethird of all American adults have a will, and that number is growing every day. This is especially true during Make-a-Will-Month - last August, more than 40,000 people made their will using FreeWill’s online software, and combined they left $370 million to charity!
Over 1 million people have made their estate plans using FreeWill. If you haven’t gotten around to writing or updating your will, now is a great time to join the movement.
In this month’s cover article, we discuss the importance of having a plan in place for your finances and property after you pass.
Consider your belongings. You may not think you own a lot, but you likely have more property than you realize: your home, vehicles, furniture, clothing, books, sentimental items, and more If you don’t have a will, your loved ones will be tasked with finding a home for this property when you pass on Creating a will prevents family conflict, eliminates confusion, and ensures your assets go to the people you most want to have them. It also gives your family guidance on how they can fulfill your wishes during what is a very difficult time. With a will, you can also plan ahead for those who are in your care.
3. It lets you create a legacy that lasts beyond your lifetime.
positive impact on causes close to your heart for years to come
2. It provides peace of mind to you and your family.
Wills aren’t just for the rich and famous They make life (and death) easier for everyone, regardless of socioeconomic status
None of us live forever But there are ways to continue making a positive impact on this world long after you leave it One of these ways is by donating to a charity in your will, like our Habitat for Humanity affiliate.
There are many ways you can use your will to benefit a charity, you can give cash, stock, real estate property and more Leaving a gift for a nonprofit in your will costs you nothing during your lifetime, but will ensure that you can make a
This month, consider taking 15 minutes to look over your will and make sure it’s up to date with your current preferences. Your life and relationships change over time, so it’s important that your will reflects those changes, too. You may also consider taking a few extra minutes to make sure you’ve named beneficiaries of your non probate assets, like your life insurance policies or retirement accounts You can name a charity as a beneficiary of these assets as another great way to leave a lasting impact
Source: freewill com
Can you believe it’s almost Fall? Summer flew by rather quickly, as it always does and we are in full swing of events for all of you! Our “Hour with Habitat” class was incredible and I loved it being intimate with a smaller crowd It gave those the time and opportunity to speak, ask questions, meet with myself and our lead volunteers and really get to know more about our organization and how we operate It was a pleasure to be one of the featured non profits of the week at the Town Square Farmers Market at the end of July and have community members stop by and say “thank you” for all we do for our city and neighbors Kids loved to decorate and sign the 2 x 4 we had set up and we even had a couple volunteers walk the crowd and hand out our newest flyer to help spread the word of who we are, what we do and upcoming events to look forward to
Next up is our first ever parade float in the Potato Bowl Parade on Saturday, September 14th from 7:30 am until 10:00 am We are so excited to meet more of our local community and showcase our float! I hope you are able to head downtown and join in on the fun!
Julie and our Family Services Committee will be hosting the “Hour of Habitat” event on Saturday, October 19th from 11:00 am until 12:00 pm at the Campbell Public Library in East Grand Forks, where they will be discussing the Road to Homeownership through our organization Registration for that opens on August 12th, so keep an eye out for the link on our website and social media pages
Don’t forget you still have time to purchase school supplies off of our Amazon registry for Habitat partner families and area school children We have already received some donations and we are just so thankful for all the local support for our Back to School drive each year
Recently, I had the chance to talk with our Executive Director, Julie on how her role has been thus far and if she has been getting acclimated with her new position This is what Julie has to say:
“It has been an interesting, busy and fun two months serving as your Executive Director We are excited to announce we’ve received a generous grant from the US Bank Foundation We had a presentation in July by Elizabeth Wilde, Marketing Director & Volunteer Coordinator, a few board members and myself on becoming a volunteer held at the local East Grand Forks Campbell Library with a handful of attendees committing to volunteer We will be holding a workshop with the Family Selection Committee in October regarding the application process In July, I attended a very worthwhile orientation sponsored by Habitat for Humanity of Minnesota Exciting news is that we are in the final phase of selecting a family for a new build which could begin this fall or next spring I am enjoying my new career and there is something new to learn everyday I am grateful to my awesome Board of Directors and the local & international chapters for all of their assistance I am here for you so please feel free to reach out to me if you need anything!”
We hope you all have an enjoyable last month of summer and we hope to see you at our upcoming events Please make sure you ‘like’ our Facebook page for all the latest news and updates, and head to our website for ways to donate, sign up to volunteer and so much more!
We may be a smaller Habitat affiliate, but we are a mighty one and part of that reason is because of area supporters like YOU!
With gratitude,
Blueprint Blueprint
Latest Affiliate News Habitat Happenings
I Spy with my little eye our brand new ad at the grand forks (GFK) airport! if you are flying back home, make sure you check it out in the baggage claim area or even donate while you wait for your luggage to arrive! together, we can bring homes and hope to the red river valley region!
THANK YOU to those who came out for our FIRST EVER "Hour with Habitat" class on Saturday, July 20th! We enjoyed the intimate time to get to know our community members who are interested in volunteering within our organization! We hope to host this class once a year to train, teach and talk with all of you! Our next class is on saturday, october 19th where our executive director and family services committee discuss the ‘road to homeownership’ with our habitat affiliate. make sure you ‘like’ our facebook page for more details in the next coming weeks to register!
Thank you to our wonderful volunteers who helped spread the word about our affiliate, when we were the featured non-profit of the week at the town square farmers market on saturday, july 27th! we also thank those who stopped by our tent to pick up some information, sign our 2x4 for the next habitat build, and purchased a habitat t-shirt!
www.rrvhabitat.com
BACK SCHOOL TO SUPPLYDRIVE
Shopping List
u can purchase items off our mazon registry list by scanning the QR Code, July 22nd through August 30th. Let's continue to bring hope to the Grand Forks community, together.
In the Community Save the Date
saturday, september 14th saturday, september 14th
7:30 am - 10:00 am 7:30 am - 10:00 am
if you are interested in learning about our habitat homeownership program, curious about the criteria and guidelines to become a habitat partner family, or just want to make sure you are eligible, this is the event for you. join our executive director, julie lind kosmatka as well as our family services committee members as they discuss all of this and more! registration for this event will be available beginning august 12th.
if you plan on heading downtown to the potato bowl, make sure you wave to our staff and board of directors as we are joining in our first ever potato bowl parade! we can’t wait to show you our float and wave to the amazing community! saturday, october 26th saturday, october 26th 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm you asked, we answered! join us for our second annual halloween carnival! more details coming soon. make sure you ‘like’ our facebook page, as we will be looking for area vendors and food trucks!
thank you to the pillar of our organization our incredible list of business donors and sponsors
www.instagram.com/rrvhabitat www.rrvhabitat.com
Board of Directors
TrentBerg:President-HoustonEngineering
SteveMueller:VicePresident-GardenValleyTechnologies
SadeyKoch:Secretary-OxfordRealty
SherryLevenseller:Treasurer-UniversityFederalCreditUnion
MikeSullivan-RedRiverValleyCommunityAction
PhilVanyo-OxfordRealty
SueShirek-NorthlandsRescueMission
DanielleAnderson-VolunteerandPreviousHabitatHomeowner
JohnFields-NorthlandCommunityandTechnicalCollege
OliveaSehrt-UniversityofNorthDakota
DebraCamperud-YouShineToo&HabitatHomeowner
Staff
WHAT WILL YOU BUILD?
Julie Lind Kosmatka- Executive Director
Elizabeth Wilde- Communications Director | Volunteer Coordinator