January 2016 - Your Legacy newsletter

YOUR LEGACY University Hospitals Kingston Foundation

January 2016

In This Issue…

RESOLUTIONS Our team has resolved to ensure your estate plans are up-to-date, p 2

PLANNED GIFTS How a meaningful gift of shares can create a lasting impact, p 2

FROM ZOË’S FILES Loyal donor graciously plans to leave a legacy, p3

Liz Dobbs Jones is building her extraordinary legacy on a foundation of goodwill and giving.

A lesson in giving from the heart A familiar face to many foundation donors, Liz Dobbs Jones recently offered to share her inspiring, personal journey of philanthropy with our wonderful supporters. Liz’s story follows.

Liz Dobbs Jones and her brother Andrew were raised in a single-parent home with a loving father who instilled in them the importance of giving back. While their family was not wealthy, Liz says he was a millionaire in her books, for his selflessness and generosity.

“It’s not about the amount. It’s about the act,” she says. “If you can give from your heart, no matter what the amount may be, it is going

to make a difference.”

Liz has made more than 400 donations to Kingston’s hospitals, demonstrating her passion to improve care for the people of our region. In addition, Liz has been unfailing in sharing her own time and efforts, passing her charitable actions along to son Matt and encouraging others to do the same.

In June, Liz was “surprised” to be awarded the prestigious Davies Award for excellence in philanthropy from the Davies Family Charitable Foundation. “I believe part of the reason I was honoured with the Davies Award goes back to relaCont’d on Page 4 YOUR LEGACY

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Welcome 2016! Does your resolution include planning for the future?

Did you make a New Year’s resolution this year?

The team at the University Hospitals Kingston Foundation has one – to help spread the word about important estate planning considerations that should be on all of our to-do lists in early 2016.

“This is a meaningful way to celebrate David’s life.”

- Karen, Carla and Brad Ingimundson

During his final years of life, David Ingimundson received exceptional care in the Emergency Department at Kingston General Hospital.

He and his loved ones saw that major renovations were needed to bring the level of the facility up to the quality of care the staff provides.

The Ingimundson family has taken an extraordinary step to do something about it.

They have made a charitable gift of shares to spark improvements for the future.

Be extraordinary!

Make a difference in quality of life for your community through a charitable gift of shares.

Contact Zoë MacKenzie 613.549.6666 ext.4953

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Don’t worry, these are not difficult tasks. They simply require thoughtful contemplation. So, here they are: 1. Update your Will Did you know that 60 per cent of individuals do not have a current Will? If you don’t have one, it’s a good time to get started. If you do have one, spend some time with it. We live in times of change. Your relationship with some of the individuals in your previous Will may have changed.

Perhaps you would like to identify a different executor, or remove the guardians of your now-adult children.

2. Make a list of your tangible personal property assets.

Take the time to figure out who will receive what. Believe it or not, it’s not the money or real estate that your heirs may squabble about, rather

it’s your tea set, your baseball card collection or that special piece of jewelry. Creating a list of beneficiaries of tangible personal property assets will help minimize this type of familial strife.

3. Consider your RRSP or RRIF beneficiary designations.

Make sure the people you want as your beneficiaries are correctly identified on your registered investments. This is also a good time to discuss charitable giving options through your RRSP/RRIF now or in your estate plan.

If you haven’t had a chance to take care of these matters, this is an excellent time to do so.

As always, please remember to consult your accountant, lawyer, and financial advisor.

Have a happy and healthy 2016!

Did you know that people of every age or income level can make a difference in our hospitals through a legacy gift? Every dollar counts.

The most meaningful gifts are the ones where inspired donors are able to create a meaningful, lasting legacy, fuelled by their passion.

Extraordinary People. Innovative Healthcare.

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Joy and her gratitude: teaming up to create a meaningful legacy gift

By Zoë MacKenzie, CPCA Shortly before Christmas, I ar-

ranged to meet a loyal donor whom I had never met before. I’d heard she had a wonderful story to tell.

I knew she was a long-standing supporter of the hospitals and had recently put University Hospitals Kingston Foundation in her Will. I wanted to hear her story and find out why she wanted her last gift, her legacy gift, to be shared by all three Kingston hospitals.

Joy Obadia met me at Providence Manor in the fireplace room. I soon discovered Joy was aptly named, for I found her to be a joyful person who shared her story graciously and with gratitude.

Joy, who is now retired, worked for 35 years with Empire Life and as a French translator. She continues to teach French at the Seniors

Joy Obadia

Centre. For fun, Joy sings in three choirs and she remains as active as her body will allow.

Joy explained to me that during her lifetime she has been in and out of hospital for prolonged time periods. She was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when she was 34, and has had numerous surgeries at Kingston General Hospital, received treatments at Hotel Dieu Hospital and has been in rehabilitation at Providence Care’s St. Mary’s of the Lake site. For Joy, this gift is a way to give back for all the wonderful care that she has been given by all of our Kingston hospitals.

Joy has had a knee, hip, ankle, shoulder, and both elbows replaced. She is very grateful for the treatment and surgeries she has received in Kingston and praises the work of Dr. Rudan, Dr. D. Cook and Dr. Sorbie. She also spoke highly of the amazing care provided to her with the rehabilitation department at St. Mary’s.

Joy says Dr. Porter and the occupational therapists were incredibly helpful after her surgeries to get her back on her feet again.

I thanked Joy for letting us know about her future gift to UHKF in support of the three hospitals.

Joy has had a knee, hip, ankle, shoulder, and both elbows, replaced.

Zoë MacKenzie, CPCA Associate Director, Planned Giving

While we were chatting, Joy also signed a Planned Giving Evergreen form so that her name will be placed on the Evergreen Trees at all three organizations, recognizing her final gift to UHKF. Before we parted, Joy and I took a short walk from the fireplace room to the Providence Manor Chapel.

Joy had never been to the chapel and was so impressed with its beauty. I told her it was Kingston’s best kept secret; such history, beauty and warmth being emitted from the moment we walked in. It was a beautiful way to end our meeting and left us both with a feeling of ‘Joy’ and gratitude.

YOUR LEGACY

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Your legacy could enable our innovative care teams to provide the best care possible for our friends and families.

Cont’d from Page 1, Liz Dobbs Jones

tionships. You don’t really realize the impact you have on people!”

Liz was a volunteer and member of the Kingston General Hospital Board of Directors for several years, while working at the Bank of Montreal.

Eventually Liz joined the foundation, working with major gift donors, a role she retired from in June 2014. She was focused on creating a planned giving program in support of our hospitals.

“When I first started with the hospital foundation, the intent was to start a gift planning program, looking at and developing future gifts that people could consider, more gifts of assets than from income,” she says. But before she could ask someone else for such a gift, she knew she had to “walk the talk.”

She and her late husband, Rick

Dobbs together agreed that she would take out an insurance policy naming the hospital foundation as beneficiary to start an endowment fund.

When Rick died unexpectedly, Liz started the endowment with his memorial donations. “I had the comfort and knowledge of knowing that this is what he would have wanted,” Liz says. A few years later, Liz married Mike Jones and they directed their wedding donations to the Rick Dobbs Memorial Endowment Fund.

“And so it continues to grow,” she says. In addition to the life insurance policy, Liz says she’s also made a bequest in her Will that will further grow the fund.

“I have given personally at a level that I am pleased with,” she says.

Supporting our hospitals is important for her. “Thanks to the ex cellent care at all of Kingston’s

You don’t really realize the impact you have on people!

hospitals, I’m here today to talk about it,” she says. “What we sometimes overlook is the true care and compassion of the caregivers themselves.”

You can also give from the heart, like Liz does, to support Kingston’s hospitals. Contact Zoë MacKenzie to discuss how you could leave a legacy. Call 613549-6666 ext. 4953 or email zoe.mackenzie@uhkf.ca.

Watch Liz share her story at uhkf. ca/lizdobbsjones/.

55 Rideau Street, Suite 4 Kingston, Ontario K7K 2Z8 Tel 613.549.5452 Toll-Free 1.866.549.5452 Email foundation@uhkf.ca Website uhkf.ca Charitable #820218147 RR0001

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