by Michael Saxe-Taller, Executive Director
During the past year, Kehilla lost two beloved members, Irene McPhail and Carolyn Pedrotti. Each contributed to Kehilla in numerous ways during the many years that they were Kehilla members. After their deaths, they each gave a final gift, one that will help sustain Kehilla for years into the future.
Irene and Carolyn were members of the Kehilla Legacy Society and had designated after-life donations to Kehilla. The money that they designated for Kehilla is going directly into an endowment fund that will become an ongoing source of funding for Kehilla’s operating budget. As with all endowments, we will not spend the principal, but as it grows, we will have a more and more significant amount of interest income to support the day-to-day needs of our community.
The Kehilla Legacy Society now has more than 75 Kehilla members, individuals or couples, that have committed to a gift to Kehilla in their will, trust, retirement plan or life insurance policy. We just welcomed five new Legacy Society members, which qualified us to receive a $5,000 grant from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, which has worked in partnership with the Jewish Federation of the East Bay to support our Legacy Society.
I know how important Kehilla is to so many of us. Being part of the Kehilla Legacy Society is an important way that you can ensure that our beloved community continues to thrive and be the life- affirming place that it is for many decades to come.
I invite you to become a Legacy Society member. You can give any amount that you wish. And it can be very simple to do. Earlier this month, it literally five minutes to add Kehilla as a beneficiary of my life insurance policy. If you want more information, please contact me at michael@kehillasynagogue.org.