"You can make a difference in the lives of those who follow".

For Jews, leaving a financial legacy for their communities and their favourite charities is an ingrained mitzvah of the Jewish tradition.

"As my ancestors planted for me, so do I plant for those who will come after me...."instructs the Talmud, and very often this planting is sown in the document of a will.

It is estimated that only 3 of 10 people have a will. If this trend continues, approximately 2 million Canadians will die intestate (without a will) by the year 2010, leaving an estimated $700 billion to be passed on without direction. It is those daunting figures which have propelled the Canadian Association of Gift Planners to introduce the Leave A Legacy program to British Columbians.

Leave A Legacy is a community-based public awareness campaign that encourages people from all walks of life to make gifts from their estates to the not-for-profit organizations of their choice.

Between 1990-2010, 3.5 million Canadians are expected to die (Macleans, Nov. 1990), leaving an unprecedented $1 trillion to their families and the community. People without a will will have lost the ability to control the distribution of their estate to their chosen beneficiaries, including family and community.

As governments continue to decrease financial support for the not-for-profit sector, alternative sources of funding to replace this lost revenue must be found. Leave A Legacy will help by providing a public service that encourages people to plan their estates and to leave a gift to the organizations of their choice. Bequests to organizations and programs under the umbrella of the Foundation will strengthen both the individual charities and the overall financial growth of our Greater Vancouver community endowment program.

When an individual or family signs into the Book of Life they are making a promise to Leave A Legacy gift to their community. Generally the gift is in the form of a bequest and can be of any worth. The Book of Life program, even before Leave A Legacy, recognized a person's deep desire to exit this world believing that somehow his/her presence on earth made a difference. Leave A Legacy can promote others to add their signatures, their stories and their promise of a bequest to the Book of Life thereby making a lasting gift to their community.

Stranger than fiction: 75 percent of bequests received by charities come from strangers — people who have had no giving history or affiliation with the organization during their lifetime.

The following organizations have endowment funds and can be recipients of a legacy gift through the Jewish Community Foundation:

• B'nai Brith
• Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region
• The Community Kollel
• Congregation Beth Israel
• Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver
• Jewish Family Service Agency
• Jewish Historical Society
• L'Chaim Adult Day Centre for JCCGV
• National Council of Jewish Women, Vancouver Section
• Shalom BC
• Vancouver Talmud Torah Alumni
• Burquest Jewish Community
• Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre
• King David High School

For more information contact Basya Laye by email or phone at 604-257-5100.