Greater Kansas City Community Foundation

Slight Change of Plan

The summer lull (!) is such a great time to work through that to do list—even those dreaded "some day" tasks that have been on the list for years, like repainting peeling window sills and updating the estate plan. Not sure we will get to the window sills this year, but what a relief to check off the revision to the will! Talk about a low entertainment value!

This time around, we got smart with the charitable provisions in our documents. Instead of laying out a list of charitable bequests, we made a single bequest to the Laura McKnight and Clay Barker Fund at the Community Foundation. Unlike our wills and trusts, the fund document is very easy to change. I could change it every week if I wanted.

Now, when I want to adjust our community priorities and the instructions to the children for how to distribute the money to worthy causes, I only need to change one little piece of paper. No more digging the will out of the safe deposit box!

So, what do you think? Is it time for a slight change of plan for you, too?

Don't Follow the Recipe

What's the recipe for the perfect brownie? That was my question today as I faced a baking project. None of the recipe books seemed to capture the rising demand at my house for heavy chocolate without too much chewiness or gooeyness, as the kids say.

"When in doubt, use a mix," is my motto . . . (also known as "good things come in boxes"). So I tinkered with the instructions on a Duncan Hines brownie mix, dumping in an entire additional cup of cocoa and guessing at the other ingredients needed to balance out the texture.

The result? Brownies gone.

Sometimes it is okay to tinker with instructions if you have a particular goal in mind. So, if you are planning to establish a fund at the Community Foundation--or if you already have a fund--take a look at our sample establishing document and decide whether it meets your taste. Does it accomplish what you hope to achieve with your charitable investments? If not, give us a call. Our job is to take instructions from you . . . . to tinker with the form and follow your recipe for community success.

Sink or Swim

I have always believed it is important to know how to swim. You just never know when you might find yourself tossed overboard without a life jacket. My mother, certified in lifesaving, made sure I had enough lessons and practice as a child to achieve at least a minimum competency. And minimum it was--I am the furthest thing from athletic!

So here I sit. Watching Ann at her swimming lesson. I'm afraid she has inherited her mother's lack of athletic ability, but she's sure got spirit!

Despite her lack of enthusiasm for freestyle at age 6,I hope Ann will insist that her children learn to swim. But there is nothing I can do to force her to pass on the mandate for lessons.

Not so with our family foundation fund. Thanks to the Community Foundation, I don't have to leave that to chance. My husband and I care deeply about childen's health issues, so we've made sure that our children will focus their charitable inheritance on our priorities--with enough flexibility for them to learn how to make a diference in the lives of others.

Sink or swim? My great granddaughter might not land a spot on the swim team. But she won't sink our family's charitable dollars into priorities that we don't care about.

It's Better Together

What to do on a blistering summer Saturday when it is too hot for the pool or the park? Cleaning the basement always sounds like a cool idea until thirty minutes into the job, knee deep in piles of old clothes, papers you wonder why you ever thought you should keep, and the infant seats you just can't bring yourself to toss out.

Enter the helpers, ages three and six. What a difference a couple of pals can make! Suddenly throwing things away takes on a whole new meaning: wadding up old papers and shooting them into a garbage bag basketball goal . . . sorting skirts and shirts into categories of prime dress-up material and "Mommy is this YOURS?" . . . . and "Why are you throwing away the playpen? We can use it as a store."

Got a community project you're dying to dig into, but not sure you want to go solo? You are not alone! Your community foundation helps people start giving circles of all shapes and sizes. A group of women who commit $300 each year to award scholarships. A breast cancer survivorship fundraiser for thousands of supporters to experience retail therapy and the joy of giving, $25 at a time. Dozens of young professionals who know they can make a bigger difference by pooling donations and together deciding on a worthy charitable cause. The sky is the limit!

Whether a weekend project is improving your basement, or, more importantly, improving your community, grab some colleagues--whatever their ages--because the result is bound to be better together!

Catch the Spirit

Ann is looking forward to our annual Independence Day tradition. She has loved the Fourth of July since she was little. At age two, she proclaimed it her favorite holiday . . . . at that age she referred to it as "Junejuly." Now, four years later (and now using the correct name), she still anxiously awaits our road trip to Gran and Grandad's in Lawrence for a "cookout." Grandad is sure to have a wading pool set up on the patio, Gran cooks hot dogs on the grill, and there is always an ample supply of sparklers and snakes, still legal in Douglas County. The entertainment on the ride home at dusk is catching glimpses of several fireworks displays along K-10 and 435 from the window of a moving minivan.

What traditions do you share with friends and family? Is giving one of them? If it is--or if it isn't but you wish it were--you are in luck. Your community foundation just released the Giving Guide, a simple "how-to" handbook that just might spark your passion for improving the quality of life in our community by connecting you with the causes that you care about most.

I am personally looking forward to using this family-friendly workbook with my girls. Giving back to the community creates fireworks of a different kind. Catch the spirit.