On January 28, 2025, our community will celebrate eight years of participating in the LIFE & LEGACY™ program and we will honor the donors who are no longer with us. Over the past eight years, 418 individuals have pledged gifts to local Jewish organizations with an estimated value exceeding $26,000,000. More than $1.7 million has already been received by the participating organizations.
“We are blessed with hundreds of caring volunteers who want to be a part of ‘L’dor v’dor,” said Howard Safer, a long-time volunteer in the program. “LIFE & LEGACY provides a very efficient and effective approach to make Nashville’s Jewish Community more sustainable for the next 120 years”.
The Nashville Jewish community joined the LIFE & LEGACY program in 2017. “We became aware of the Life & Legacy program by learning of the very positive experiences of other Jewish Federations that were already participating from prior years,” stated Mark Freedman, Interim Chief Executive Officer, and Executive Director at the time our community joined the program. “We expressed our interest to the Harold Grinspoon Foundation who invited us to complete an extensive application process, and we were ultimately accepted into the program."
During the initial four years of the program, the Harold Grinspoon Foundation provided substantial training and financial support to implement the program. Participating organizations have shared incentive grants totaling $290,650 based on the achievements of their volunteers.
Teams of volunteers representing each participating organization have spent the past eight years meeting with community members to discuss securing the future of the Nashville Jewish community. “I've had the honor of working in the program as a Jewish communal professional in Nashville, and my husband and I are proud to be participants of the program”, says Shannon Small. “We participate in the program because we believe in the future of the Jewish community here in Nashville and around the world. In order to sustain our Jewish future for our children, we believe that supporting Jewish organizations through this program is essential".
Volunteers have a variety of reasons for supporting the LIFE & LEGACY program. Felicia Anchor volunteered because of “my deep concern about transmitting the lessons of the Holocaust to future generations. Our Holocaust Memorial represents a tragic and pivotal history that impacted our worldwide Jewish Community 80 years ago. The LIFE & LEGACY program ensures that our Memorial will be sustained and available to the public for generations to come. This legacy ensures that the Memorial remains as a beacon for remembering the past but empowering the future to become up-standers rather than bystanders in the face of discrimination and hatred”.
The LIFE & LEGACY program was created by the Harold Grinspoon Foundation to support Jewish organizations across North America through partnerships with local Jewish Federations and Foundations to promote after-lifetime giving. After-lifetime giving allows donors to use their money during the donor’s lifetime while confirming they will leave a gift to the organizations of their choice.
“I believe the most important factor was the long-term positive impact for the Jewish Federation and all the other Jewish organizations that decided to join in the effort. Every organization had already realized that a strong endowment was essential to their future financial health in fulfilling their vision and mission. Leading the Life & Legacy effort underscored the Jewish Federation's role as a community convener. The great success of Life & Legacy for Jewish Nashville will be felt for many generations to come," stated Freedman.
“Anyone who has concern about our Jewish future can make an initial commitment that fits their circumstances, shows their family their intent and doesn’t significantly reduce their security and family resources,” responded Safer..
Becoming a LIFE & LEGACY donor is an easy, straightforward process. A donor must sign a letter of intent (LOI), pledging a gift to one or more participating organizations. Donors currently pledge to leave a gift to an average of 2.2 organizations. Donors may then take up to a year to formalize their LOI’s by amending their will to add a bequest or adding their chosen organizations as beneficiaries to a retirement account or life insurance policy.
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“I think each of us hopes that we can leave this world better than the one we lived in, asserts Felicia Anchor. “We want the generations of our families to feel safe and have opportunities for growth and to enjoy life. But this does not happen by magic. Ken and I have a sense of deep satisfaction knowing that we are helping to support a healthy future”. Perhaps the best advice comes from Safer, who urges, “Do it now!”
On January 28, 2025, at 6:00 pm at the Gordon Jewish Community Center, we will celebrate eight years of achievements in the LIFE & LEGACY program made possible by the volunteers and donors. Achieving a sustainable future for Jewish Nashville is a great gift for the entire community.