On the Road: Visits to Spring ’07 Grantees
CommunityNews
ISSUE 9 NUMBER 2, FALL 2007
You may not be familiar with
the name, James Smithson. That
wouldn’t be surprising; he died
in 1829. He was British, he
never came to the United States,
and had no correspondence with
THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEW YORK
Continued on page three
anyone in this country.
But it’s a certainty that
you’re familiar with the legacy
he left through his will. It said,
“I then bequeath the whole of
my property…to the United
States of America, to found at
Washington, under the name of
the Smithsonian Institution, an
Establishment for the increase
and diffusion of knowledge….”
No one knows for sure
why he did it; he never said.
But because of his bequest,
there are now sixteen national
museums, four research centers,
the National Zoo, archive and
research libraries, as well as
outreach programs that touch
museums and schools across
America—all part of the
Smithsonian.
The Community Foundation,
too, has been grateful to receive
bequests made by generous and
thoughtful individuals—gifts
planned during their lifetimes,
but made after their deaths.
Just this past year one such gift
provided more than $25,000
in both direct assistance and
behind-the-scenes support for
recovery efforts from the June
2006 floods through a
Community Foundation grant.
We hope the donor would be
pleased that his legacy made
such a difference in the lives of
the people of our region.
One of the advantages of
making a bequest through a will
is that donors can fulfill their
charitable goals while still retain-
ing control of their assets during
their lifetimes. And bequests
certainly don’t need to be “all
or nothing”: Many people leave
bequests to family and other
loved ones in their wills, as well
as bequests to favorite charities.
Such gifts don’t need to be huge.
Even a relatively modest bequest
can make a significant difference
to a charitable organization.
Because the Community
Foundation takes a long-term
view of our region’s future, mak-