Simple rule for creating your life legacy
BY ARLENE KNOX Planned Giving Officer, Southwest Florida Community Foundation

Last week, I watched Forrest Gump - again.

I never tire of Forrest, his lifetime journey, and the eventual circle to his beginnings. Most folks have seen this movie at least three times. If you are like me, you clutch a pack of tissues and alternate between tears of laughter and sadness. And you probably cry at the same scenes, even though you know what's coming.

One touching scene highlights the universal sentiment of humanity. Forrest Gump is called home to his dying mother. In their final conversation, Forrest (Tom Hanks), asks his mother Mrs. Gump (Sally Field), "What's my destiny, Mama?" to which she famously replies "You're gonna have to figure that out for yourself. Life is a box of chocolates, Forrest. You never know what you're gonna get."

Is this true? Can we create our own destiny or is it already determined by our surroundings, luck and circumstance? What are destiny, and its close companion, legacy?

Webster defines a legacy as "something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past." It's a talent, a gift, a custom, or a way of life that is delivered from the past to the future. A destiny is a "will of force or a determining cause by which things in general are believed to come to be as they are." It's what will happen.

Perhaps we can determine our destiny by creating a legacy.

For some of us, to find our legacy we look no further than our children. Parents, caregivers, teachers, daycare workers, pediatricians and other adults who work with children understand that they are glimpsing into the future and that they have some control (albeit limited) as to the outcome. They love children, train them, teach them and point them in the right direction. They have helped create a new being that will enter the future and carry on.

For others, a legacy is created through some time honored family tradition. Think

about a family owned restaurant operated by three generations of the same family, a rich work ethic carried from family to family. Or a promise made by a grandfather and carried out by his grandchildren to always have an empty place at the table for a guest or person in need. These actions are carried out for the good of a future recipient.

We help build legacies at the Southwest Florida Community Foundation when an individual wants to help a nonprofit or a segment of society. An individual can change the future, even after death, by establishing an endowed fund. Legacy gifts, generally defined as gifts through your will or estate, can be used to establish the fund for perpetuity. And he or she can create a legacy for their own family; future generations can contribute to the fund and grow it to meet community needs. The fund can be earmarked for a specific nonprofit, a general area of need in the community, or left unrestricted and used where most needed in Southwest Florida.

Creating your own legacy begins by thinking about important moments in your life. Military service, a difficult childhood, witnessing injustice, caring for a disabled sibling, living with a drug-addicted family member, and other life experiences shape our perspective of how we want to change the future for the better. Conversations with family, clergy, professional advisors, or close friends can also help define a future legacy. Of course, you can always reflect on Mrs. Gump's wise advice to Forrest: "I happen to believe you make your own destiny. You have to do the best with what God gave you."

The destiny of our community is determined by the legacy you leave to others.

The Southwest Florida Community Foundation has been supporting the communities of Lee, Charlotte, Collier, Glades and Hendry through endowed funds for more than 30 years. With assets of more than $57 million and 314 endowed funds, the community foundation has provided more than $30 million in grants and scholarships to the communities it serves.

For more information, please call 274-5900, or visit their web site at www.floridacommunity.com.