Anonymous donor leaves $2.4 million estate gift

When a retired schoolteacher and administrator passed away earlier this year, she left behind a lasting legacy in not only education, but also in charitable giving. Through a bequest in her will, the lifelong Summit County resident gave nearly $2.4 million to Akron Community Foundation and more than $1 million to Barberton Community Foundation.

The woman's attorneys, Philip Kaufmann and Loma Swett, both partners at Stark & Knoll, met with her to discuss her estate plans and said they weren't surprised that this private woman desired anonymity in her charitable giving, even after her death. But, she also wanted to make sure her gift would have an enduring impact on the community she called home. Knowing her wishes, the attorneys recommended she give through her local community foundations.

The woman's bequest was not designated to a particular cause; instead, she chose to let the community foundation decide where her dollars would have the greatest impact. The board discretionary fund that was established in her name at Akron Community Foundation will support emerging needs in the community through the foundation's quarterly grantmaking.

"More than $100,000 will be going back into the community every year, forever, thanks to the generosity of this one woman," said John T. Petures Jr., president and CEO of Akron Community Foundation. "And while her gift was unrestricted, we want to honor her decades of service to the youth in this community by using her gift to fund educational programming. We think she would have liked that."