Want to help your community? Consider a planned gift to the Adena Health Foundation

It’s something we all take into consideration as we begin to think about our lives and the lives of our loved ones. Should something happen to us, what do we leave behind?

Many times, when we consider these deep thoughts, we find ourselves contemplating what we want our legacy to be – whether through strength of deeds or family or giving back to the community. For Mart De Waard, that answer was found through giving, and the Adena Health Foundation was the perfect partnership to make that legacy a reality.

“I wanted to make sure my estate, should something happen to me, it was not going to get caught up in probate,” said Mart, who joined Adena more than two years ago in Home Health and now works as a manager in Business Development for the Health System. “I just decided to put a donation in my will for Adena Health Foundation and added them as a beneficiary designation to my retirement.”

“The main reason for that was really peace of mind for myself. If something happens to me, I’d be at peace knowing that the money saved for my retirement would go to good use in the community. Adena Health Foundation is close to home, it’s close to my heart, it serves the local community right here, and I thought that was the right thing to do.”

While a planned gift may not always be the first thought that comes to mind for your estate, Mart said it should definitely be a consideration. Personal experience has led him to that opinion.

To begin with, he has seen what he called an “absolute mess” that can occur when the correct paperwork for distributing an estate is not in place. When his parents died, there was no written road map for their estate and, with himself and another of his three siblings living abroad outside his native Netherlands, things did not go smoothly.

Then, during eight years working in hospice care, he saw several “horror stories” of what happened with people who didn’t have their estate plans in order. That hospice experience also served as a reminder that nobody is immune from dying – himself included – and that it may be time for him to consider where his money should go if he wasn’t able to enjoy it himself during his lifetime.

“My situation is a little more unique,” Mart said. “I’m not married and I don’t have any children. My family is all overseas, so I wanted to do my planning right so that if something happens to me, it doesn’t get caught up in probate.”

Mart became involved with the Adena Health Foundation shortly after beginning work with Adena, originally helping out as a volunteer for the Annual Scioto Valley Golf Classic and donating to the annual employee giving program for the organization. As he got a better look at how the foundation helps – both through support and outreach in the community and within the Health System providing for needs that enhance patient experience and care – the idea for a planned gift emerged.

“I chose the Foundation specifically because it is close to the community,” he said. “I live here, I work for Adena, and I felt that this was a really valuable opportunity. The other reason I made the choice is that healthcare affects us all indiscriminately. It doesn’t matter who you are, each and every one of us can get sick and each and every one of us can find ourselves in a situation where it is difficult to get help. I find that’s a really peaceful thought that Adena can do something local to help and that gives me a good feeling. I can see that being a good motivator for somebody else thinking about that.”

Calling Adena “one of the best kept secrets” in the region and pointing to a wide array of national recognitions various service lines and the system as a whole have received for their care. Mart said there is a quality to the organization embodied by the physicians, specialists, leadership and other caregivers that the community can count on for years to come.

Community is key to that statement.

“I think the Adena Health Foundation is a great place to keep in mind for a planned gift of your estate, to keep it in mind as a beneficiary because the Foundation works for the whole community,” Mart said. “It is not one group of people singled out -- that’s not to say there’s not organizations that do great work while focusing on a smaller group of people – but for me, it was important that I had the feeling this was going to be of good use for nobody in particular but for everybody.

“I think if you have a feeling like that, you should definitely keep the Adena Health Foundation in mind.”

HOW YOU CAN MAKE AN IMPACT

Planned giving is just one of many ways you can support the Adena Health Foundation’s mission.

For answers to questions and more information on how you can make an impact that will transform the work of the Adena Health Foundation for generations to come, please call 740-779-7528.

Tax-deductible donations also may be made online www.adena.org/foundationfocus