Crafting a Legacy of Compassion through Philanthropy

By: Stuart Gellman

As we enter our so-called golden years, we take heed and concern ourselves with just what legacy we might leave behind that will serve as a reflection of what and who we were during our lifetime. I personally wrestled with these thoughts, and ultimately this introspective journey led me to a consideration of the following:

• What proper legacy could be formed that would honor my family (past, present and future)?
• What personal beliefs, actions and hopes could I make sure my family would remember that would serve as a foundation for how they would live their own lives.
• And lastly how would my life have an impact amidst the community where I spent most of my life.

Crafting a solution that brought together these multifaceted dimensions presented a formidable challenge. Despite exploring various charitable avenues, none quite encompassed the entirety of my vision until my partner Judy led me to a serendipitous encounter with Bob Milch and the Hospice and Palliative Care organization of Buffalo —a pivotal turning point in my journey of self-reflection.

Inspired by Hospice's mission and guided by the principles of the Foundation for Jewish Philanthropies' Life and Legacy program, I created a plan that seamlessly merged personal and communal philanthropy.

Meeting with the Executive Group at Hospice was as if I was among family. Within that intimacy, they shared their hope of building a pavilion which would serve to further their community commitment to the families whose loved ones occupied the Hospice campus as well as providing a facility that could be used for organizational and public events. Ultimately, I was honored to be asked to spearhead this endeavor and honored further by having the facility named the Stuart Gellman Family pavilion. Added to all of this was a personal thought; the hope that this pavilion would also serve as a special place where my children and grandchildren might congregate to laugh and perhaps cry while recalling the many memories of past family days together.

I am appealing to my friends and family to join me in creating this special place. It is my fervent hope that this sacred sanctuary will emerge as a beacon of compassion, healing, and unity—an enduring testament to the indomitable spirit of generosity and communal solidarity at the heart of not only our Jewish faith, but those of Hospice as well. I encourage you to consider learning more about this project and meet with their team. You will find that there are more ways to honor your loved ones and create a family legacy within their plan. I have worked closely with Elizabeth Siderakis of the Hospice Foundation, and she would welcome your call. You can reach her at 716-983-1921 or [email protected].

In furtherance of my personal aspirations as set forth above, I was led to the Life and Legacy program supported by the Foundation for Jewish Philanthropies and the Buffalo Jewish Federation. Through Life and Legacy there is an opportunity for us to consider bequests in our estate planning to perpetuate the secular as well as religious ideals of our Jewish families. As I thought about this along with my personal feelings for those special institutions which I have supported over many years, I realized that I did not want that support to cease abruptly upon my passing. Therefore, instead of leaving a bequest to the Foundation on my death, I created, with the aid of the Foundation, a Restricted Endowment Fund that would remain in existence for 10 years after my death. During that time, my children would function as stewards of these funds, in collaboration with the Foundation, to invest and make yearly contributions to those organizations that I supported throughout my life. At the end of the initial 10 years, the remaining funds would then be integrated with the Foundation’s Life and Legacy Fund, thus perpetuating my cycle of giving for generations to come.

I must say that although what is encapsulated above represents the culmination of my personal charitable goals, in formulating those goals, I owe a special debt of gratitude to the Foundation for its guidance, knowledge experience, and most of all, to its values which were instrumental in guiding me to everything set forth above.

Stuart Gellman lives and practices law in Amherst and is a lifelong member of Jewish Buffalo.

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