MEDIA

LEGACY QUOTATIONS & STORIES

Quotes
“To be a philanthropist you don’t have to have a building named after you. You don’t have to have a Rolls Royce, your own private jet, or a pull cord for the butler. All you have to do is care about the world around you. You have to care about what’s going to happen to that world after you’re gone.

When you set aside a little in your will for your favorite charity, the causes you care about most will live on. LEAVE A LEGACY™ can help you make a lasting difference right here in Iowa and our bordering communities.”

“The measure of a human being is not in their deeds, but in the legacy they leave.”
           — Scott Shuker.

“It is the responsibility of every human being to aspire to do something worthwhile, to make this world a better place than the one he found.”
           — Albert Einstien

“Life is a gift, and if we agree to accept it, we must contribute in return. When we fail to contribute, we fail to adequately answer why we are here.”
           — Albert Einstein

“We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects.”
           — Herman Melville, Author

Stories
If you’ve ever doubted your ability to make a valuable difference in the world, consider the true story of Winifred Petty of Eldora, Iowa, born in 1900. In her 20s, Winifred secured a job as a bookkeeper/accountant with the Boyt Harness Company in Des Moines, where her boss impressed upon her the importance of saving and investing her money. Throughout her working years, Winifred would take her paycheck and buy as little as one or two shares of stock at a time. She worked hard, purchased a modest brick home and lived frugally.

Winifred never married, and when she died in 1998, Winifred left more than $1 million – nearly her entire estate – to 18 Iowa charities. Her money funded organizations serving children with disabilities, the poor, her church, the sick, a hospice, a music education program at a university and a children’s hospital where she volunteered, among others.

Winifred’s life was ordinary in many ways, yet the impact she will have on the lives of Iowans with special needs is truly extraordinary. Winifred left a legacy of care and compassion for others through her estate gift. Advanced planning enabled her to extend her generosity beyond her lifetime, and her kindness will be warmly felt for many years to come.