Federation Report: A legacy is forever – create yours today

By Lawrence Weinstein, Chair, Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation

With the official launch of the Life & Legacy program this month, our community is entering a new era of philanthropy. The Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation is proud to host this program uniting 14 key community organizations in a mission to guarantee our entire community’s vibrant future.

How will you be remembered? This is a question many of us consider. We want to be remembered for our good deeds, our kindnesses and our impact. Jewish Ottawa has nourished all of our Jewish journeys and taking part in the Life & Legacy program can be a way to make a permanent and positive impact, a way you will always be remembered.

Michael Landau, a past Foundation chair and a Life & Legacy team member, explains how when he first learned about legacy giving he understood instantly that this was a way he could give back.

“Making a change in your will with a clause that allows you to donate money to the community after you have passed is truly what a legacy is,” Michael said. “You decide how much you would like to donate out of your will and where the money will go. Legacy giving also makes perfect sense for anyone with any level of philanthropic desire.”

To put it simply, you don’t have to be wealthy. Anyone who wants to, can make a legacy gift. And this is where the Life & Legacy initiative comes in. As our community learns how each of us can help future generations succeed by creating individual legacy plans, we will build a new philanthropic status quo where conversations about leaving gifts in your will are understood as a loving means of ensuring our collective Jewish futures. For many, the best way of doing this is by leaving a percentage of your estate, as opposed to a fixed dollar amount.

It is highly likely that your life has been touched, or even formed, by one of more of these organizations. Stop now and consider that you have it in your ability to protect and provide for their ongoing success so that you can guarantee that these pivotal organizations will be around and thriving for your grandchildren and great grandchildren.

That can be your legacy. Your legacy to the one, two, or three organizations that most touched you on your Jewish journey. This is how you can be remembered.

Please contact any of these organizations for more information, or contact Micah Garten at 613-798-4696, ext. 270, or mgarten@JewishOttawa.com. You can also visit the Foundation website at www.ojcf.ca.

The Foundation is proud to partner with these incredible Jewish institutions:

•           Camp B’nai Brith of Ottawa

•           Congregation Machzikei Hadas

•           Hillel Lodge LTC Foundation

•           Jewish Education through Torah (JET)

•           Jewish Family Services of Ottawa

•           Jewish Federation of Ottawa

•           Jewish Memorial Gardens

•           Kehillat Beth Israel

•           Ottawa Jewish Community School

•           Ottawa Torah Centre

•           Soloway Jewish Community Centre

•           Tamir

•           Temple Israel

•           Torah Day School of Ottawa