PHILANTHROPY

PORTRAITS IN

phi•lan•thro•py/f 'lanTHre epe/

noun

the desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed especially by the generous donation of money to good causes.

The Community Foundation Martin - St. Lucie gratefully dedicates this book to ten philanthropists whose generosity

has touched thousands of lives.

Bridget & Bruce Abernethy

Jessica Bohner

John Doody

Jack Forde

Robin & Andrew Hunt

Marjie & Bud Jordan

Jack Smouse

Ellyn & Ray Stevenson

Theora “Bunny” & Horace Webb

Anonymous

The Community Foundation Martin-St. Lucie | 851 SE Monterey Commons Blvd. | Stuart, FL 34996 | 772.288.3795 | tcfmsl.org

Throughout nearly six decades of marriage, Bunny and Horace Webb have given back to the communities they’ve called home. They credit their families with teaching them the meaning of philanthropy – although as children they did not know it as such.

“We called it sharing,” says Horace, who grew up on Chicago’s South Side. “If a kid was hungry, we fed him; if he needed clothes, we offered hand-me-downs from my two brothers and myself. We cared for our neighbors. My father, an ordained minister, and my mother, a teacher of special needs children, would have it no other way.”

Bunny credits her grandmother with teaching her the importance and spirit of giving when she was ten. Since then, her approach to philanthropy has evolved, but her spirit of giving remains unchanged.

Bunny and Horace were both responsible for corporate giving in the respective Fortune 500 and Fortune 100 companies for which they worked. Bunny says it was then that she became keenly aware of the responsibility, the strategy and the investment aspects of giving - particularly when millions of dollars were at stake in communities across the nation and throughout the world.

Bunny understands that smart, strategic and

impactful philanthropy is crucial to strengthening communities, but she stresses that philanthropy isn’t simply donating money. As with any investment, philanthropy involves oversight and accountability.

While at Duracell, Bunny insisted that a manager or senior executive (depending on the size of the company grant) serve on the board of each nonprofit organization receiving corporate donations of $25,000 or more from the company, to ensure oversight, fiscal and programmatic guidance, and accountability. Though the concept was initially resisted by some, it did not take long before all parties involved recognized the benefit of this philanthropic strategy.

Over time, the nonprofits benefited from the ancillary resources resulting from the corporation’s involvement, and the corporate managers/officers became sensitive to the needs of the community, offering additional personal support. Together, they leveraged their strategic collaborative to the benefit of those served by the nonprofit – a win-win for all.

Bunny and Horace continue to practice strategic philanthropy, combining their dollar donations with their service on nonprofit boards to help guide and grow the work of the community nonprofits to which they have committed.

THEORA “BUNNY” HORACE WEBB

The Charitable Journey of Lifetimea

John Doody is one of those rare philanthropists who gives and gets. If he believes in a cause, he will fund it generously and consistently, and then go out and recruit others to join the effort. He is a master at amplifying charitable giving. As one friend said, “He always brings more to the table.” While most people would rather die than ask someone for money, John doesn’t think twice. He is persuasive and, when called for, gently persistent. The skills he brings to raising funds for charity were honed in Duxbury, Massachusetts, where he started and ran a successful insurance business for forty years. “It’s really about understanding people.” John said, explaining his gift for rallying people to support good causes.

“I am garlic and Gaelic” John says of his Irish and Italian heritage that blessed him with the ability to talk with just about anyone. His parents, who owned a mom and pop insurance agency through the Depression, managed to send John and his siblings to private schools and colleges. In his junior year John was recruited by a national life insurance company which he joined the day after graduation. He stayed for 17 years, added property and casualty lines and eventually took on the family business as his father retired. He soon opened his own agency and the rest is a classic success story built on hard work and perseverance.

As John’s agency grew, so did his service to the medical and business communities where he lived and raised his family. John was Chairman of the Board of the South Shore Hospital and the South Shore Hospital Foundation where he helped raised millions. For years he was active in the South Shore

Chamber of Commerce, the largest suburban Chamber of Commerce in the nation, and served as board chair.

When John and his beloved wife Connie moved to Mariner Sands in 2008, it didn’t take him long to get interested in Mariner Sands Chapel and Charity Week which supports the chapel and charities throughout Martin County. A friend tells about the time the Mariner Sands Benevolence Fund was $15,000 short of the goal. John volunteered to help. He made his donation and then made 16 phone calls. The next day they had the $15,000.

After settling in, John met and developed a lasting friendship with Bill Weimer, a retired Navy chaplain who had become the chaplain for Mariner Sands. “It was a life changing event,” John said. “I came to understand that living life as a Christian amplifies the importance of helping others and we were lucky enough to have a few bucks to help people who need help. So why wouldn’t we?”, he added.

While healthcare had been the primary focus of John’s philanthropy and board service, first up north and then at Martin Memorial and Treasure Coast Hospice, he expanded his charitable giving to include scholarships and support of basic human needs for the hungry and homeless in Martin County. “We don’t see them, but the need is staggering,” he said. For John Doody, that is a call to action. “Man alive, there is a lot of work to do.” John will help and he’ll bring others along with him. JDJOHN DOODY

Bringing More to the Tableto

It was the early 60’s. Jack Forde was working at the famed Bell Labs in New Jersey just as information theory was emerging as the central concept for communication technologies that would change the world and eventually give us cellphones and cable TV. Jack saw the revolution coming and joined an industry on the rise. By the time he retired as President and COO of Times Fiber Communications in 1995, his life and career followed the rise of digital technology worldwide. It all started in Brooklyn.

John was born to hard working Irish immigrant parents with little formal education who supported the family by always working hard at tough, low-paying jobs. He respected and appreciated their grit and determination but like many of his generation, he saw education as the path to a better life.

After graduating from Brooklyn Technical High School and serving three years in the Air Force in Korea as an airborne radio operator, Jack returned stateside determined to be the first in his family to graduate from college. He was bright, ambitious and ready to study engineering. He earned his degree at what is now the New Jersey Institute of Technology and headed to Bell Labs where scientists and engineers were doing groundbreaking work that would shape the future of communication industries.

By 1977, with federal regulations relaxed and America developing an appetite for cable TV, Jack saw the

potential in the cable industry. He joined Times Fiber Communications in sales and 18 years later he retired as President and COO. The company was a leading supplier of coaxial cables and later fiber optics that became the backbone of the cable TV industry as it expanded world-wide in less than a decade.

It was after Jack retired and moved to Harbour Ridge, near Stuart, Florida, that his interest turned to philanthropy. Though he resists being called a philanthropist, fellow board members and patients at Cleveland Clinic Martin Health would disagree. His generosity funded the purchase of critical life-saving technology and equipment over the years and helped build the hospital at Tradition in St. Lucie County. He recalls the day he first thought of Martin Memorial as “his hospital.” His wife had been admitted for minor surgery and as he was taking her home, he realized that if Martin County was his home, Martin Health would be “his hospital.”

Jack got bitten by the bug, as he calls his enthusiasm for donating to the hospital and his efforts to recruit others to join with him. Sometimes, he admits, people would avoid him, knowing he was seeking donations, but that never stopped him. “Every so often, I would meet with someone who would say, ‘I know who you are, Jack, I know why you are here. How much do you want?’” Jack said. “That makes me feel great. I like to look at the endgame----and for me that’s helping other people with what matters.”

Jack got bitten by the bug, as he calls his enthusiasm for donating to the hospital and his efforts to recruit others to join with him.

JFJACK FORDE

WHAT MATTERS

for

ROBIN ANDREW HUNT

Andrew and Robin Hunt came to philanthropy not by chance, but by design.

“My family always believed strongly in giving back to the community,” Andrew says, “and for me it became both a vocation and a passion.” He believes in the adage “To whom much is given much is expected.”

His great-grandfather was a metallurgist who co-founded Alcoa Aluminum and his grandfather worked his way up the ladder of the company from mill clerk to President. “The Hunt Foundation my grandfather established now includes a fourth generation of Hunts,” Andrew explains. “We fund initiatives and programs mostly in Pittsburgh, Boston, and places where family Trustees live and work. We have spirited debates about where the Foundation’s funds will do the most good.”

Andrew is a different kind of philanthropist compared to others in his family. “I like to be more involved with the charities that my wife Robin and I fund,” he says. “We think of ourselves as engaged donors who want to get to root causes and support organizations to ensure there is real impact and purpose.” It has become their passion, vocation and a lifelong responsibility.

As a child, Andrew credits participating in

various sports as being his savior at times.

After college he became a successful entrepreneur and pioneer in the specialty fitness equipment business. “I was always very hands-on and I always answered the phone. I knew my products and my customers. It’s that same sort of involvement that Robin and I now bring to our philanthropy,” he said.

It was natural, then, for Andrew to bring the nationally recognized First Tee programs to the Treasure Coast. He has served as its President since its inception in 2012. At the same time, he was invited by the honorary Chairman of First Tee National, President George Bush, to become a life-long Trustee. “I love this program not only because I love golf, but more importantly because this program teaches character education. Through its nine core values and nine healthy habits curriculum, the program is transformational for kids,” he noted.

Andrew’s philosophy has always been that everybody should have the opportunity to play---everybody! “I was fortunate in my youth to get a second chance and now I look for opportunities for kids to get second chances too,” Andrew says.

Youth development truly has his heart. He and Robin show up at the charities that they

fund and they get to know the kids as well as the organizations. “We look for ways that our philanthropy can assist them in addressing and meeting the everyday challenges they face, so that they will have the ability to reach their full potential and thrive in an ever-changing world.”

Andrew has been involved with philanthropy throughout his life. He has thought about it a lot and has a clear vision about how to measure success.

“As individual donors it can be challenging to gather all of the vital information that we know is so important to engage in strategic and thoughtful giving. This is the reason we chose to establish our Fund at The Community Foundation,” Andrew says. “The Foundation has provided Robin and me with another layer of expertise, and our philanthropy has been enriched because of its deep understanding of the charitable landscape and community needs.”

The Hunts believe strongly in leveraging and building relationships. “When we combine our contributions with other givers, we exponentially increase the impact of our individual gifts. Participating in collective giving allows us to amplify our philanthropic efforts. Whether we lead the effort or join in, that’s our idea of real philanthropy.”

GAME CHANGERS

BRIDGET BRUCE ABERNETHY

INVESTINGIN THEIR COMMUNITYin

Estate planning professional Bruce R. Abernethy, Jr. has provided trusted legal and financial counsel to Treasure Coast residents, their businesses and families for nearly four decades. Charitable giving is an important part of both his practice and his life.

Bruce and his wife Bridget are strong believers in giving back and have done so for decades, supporting a range of community organizations, from educational institutions to food banks to hospice. Their current focus is on organizations addressing children’s issues and poverty.

After previously funneling their giving through a private foundation, last year the Abernethys made the decision to open a donor advised fund (DAF) with The Community Foundation Martin - St. Lucie. They’ve experienced first-hand the benefits that a DAF offers.

“I’d soured on using private foundations, because they require a significant investment in time, paperwork and compliance,” says Bruce. “A donor advised fund is pure giving, and that’s what philanthropy should be about.”

The Abernethys appreciate the expertise and resources the Foundation provides, ensuring their monetary support delivers optimal impact. “They do the research,” says Bridget. “They can tell us if a cause

is legitimate, and if it’s worthy of our donation. We feel better knowing their eyes are on it and that our funds will be used in an appropriate way.”

As an estate planning professional, Bruce understands and leverages the tax advantages of a DAF. He and Bridget frontload their fund to meet the requirements of today’s tax laws, and disburse their funding over time as worthy causes are identified and vetted.

“A mentor of mine used to say about philanthropy, ‘Whatever tool you use and however much you give, you’re choosing to make a dent in the universe,’” says Bruce. “The Community Foundation is the ‘go to’ tool I use to help make my ‘dent’ in a smart way.”

For Bruce and Bridget, giving back goes beyond monetary donations to volunteering their time and talents. They recently took a mission tour to Guatemala with Habitat for Humanity, which they describe as “life changing.”

However you choose to give back, Bruce promises that you’ll receive much more in return. “There’s a lot of ‘feel good’ in giving back,” he says. “If you don’t, you’ll miss out on a way to thank your community. You’ll miss out on something that makes your life whole. And you won’t know what you’re missing until you do it. It will change your life.”

JBJESSICA BOHNER

For Jessica Bohner, philanthropy is second nature. It’s in her blood. She grew up watching William Dunn, her maternal grandfather build a family foundation, knowing that when the time came, she would put her stamp on the family tradition of giving back. Her time came in January 2019, when she followed in the footsteps of her late father, Stephen Bohner, and became the third generation to lead the family business, Premier Realty Group, founded by her paternal grandparents, Richard Bohner and Trude Neese.

Now at the helm of a thriving family business rich in history and tradition, Jessica represents a new generation of business leaders who believe philanthropy is a natural part of doing business and serving their community. She is eager to spread the word. “It’s a dream of mine, that I plan to continue to drive, that every Realtor® adopt a formal charitable giving plan on a local level. What a difference our industry could make across the nation,” she said.

From day one Jessica was determined to put corporate and personal philanthropy at the center of her tenure, and she got right to it with a hands-on approach. She started organizing her personal and corporate giving through a donor advised fund, the Premier Realty Group Charitable Fund, at The Community Foundation. “A large-scale corporate charitable giving program is complicated, so I turned to The Community Foundation. They helped streamline our grantmaking and equipped us to make informed decisions when choosing which charities to support,” Jessica said. She named the new charitable tradition at the firm, Premier Giving.

With the framework in place to manage grantmaking, Jessica got busy implementing philanthropy into the

corporate culture at Premier Realty Group. She personally seeded the fund, created a 7-member team of Premier professionals to lead the philanthropy committee that will vet funding requests. She garnered the support of her entire team to contribute a percentage of every transaction to the charitable fund and committed the company to match it. Since the launch of Premier Giving, employee volunteerism has quadrupled, charities are invited to present at weekly meetings and the office hosts gatherings for disadvantaged children and teens. All of this comes in addition to the company’s long-standing support of Cleveland Clinic Martin Health and community event sponsorships.

Jessica Bohner and her generation bring a new perspective to business, culture and philanthropy as each generation always has. If Jessica’s leadership example as a philanthropist takes hold in her industry, as she hopes it will, there is a new family legacy in the making.

In 2019 donations went to: Operation 300, 25 United, Caring Children Clothing Children, Tykes & Teens, The Library Foundation of Martin County, Humane Society of the Treasure Coast, Equine Rescue and Adoption Foundation, PACE Center for Girls., Project LIFT, House of Hope, Caring Fields Felines, the Treasure Coast Hospice Foundation, Elev8Hope, Habitat for Humanity, Surfers for Autism and Place of Hope.

She’s a Natural a

“ I have a high level of confidence that the donations we make are well-placed, monitored and having the impact we expect.”

Ray and Ellyn Stevenson have never been armchair philanthropists. You’ll find them in the mix: at meetings, chairing boards, on the frontline pitching in, getting involved and hosting fundraisers. In charitable circles the Stevensons are known for two things: they favor humanitarian and social justice non-profits and they open their beautiful home for causes they support. It is one thing to open your doors and welcome major donors, celebrities and political candidates, as they often do. It’s a different breed of philanthropist who will host 29 migrant workers and their children from Immokalee who needed a place to stay when they came across the state to demonstrate for fair wages. When Ellyn and Ray commit, they are in 100%.

They both learned charity at home. Ellyn grew up in a family that believed in helping people. She was taught it is a responsibility to help others when you could. As a child she collected money for UNICEF and continued to donate to charities in her adult working years. Until he retired, Ray’s giving centered mainly on his church and alma mater. When Ellyn and Ray married, eight

weeks after meeting, they decided to put some of their wealth to work benefitting others and for 34 years they’ve been making a difference together.

Over the years Martin County has benefitted from the Stevensons’ quiet style of giving. Locally, they have helped support Temple Beit HaYam, the VIM Clinic, The Council on Aging, Alzheimer’s Community Care, the Indiantown YMCA, IMPACT 100 and the Library Foundation of Martin County where Ray served as Treasurer. Their generosity extends to ACLU Florida, Planned Parenthood, Southern Poverty Law Center, UNICEF and Save the Children. In Haiti they support educational and microfinance projects.

Today, Ray and Ellyn are passing on their tradition of giving to their four grandchildren through “gift certificates.” Every year they give each child an amount that will be donated in their name to a charity the child selects after careful research. They are teaching future philanthropists to be generous and to be smart about it, something Ray and Ellyn both know and live.

ELLYN RAY STEVENSON

OPEN DOORPolicy

na

There is a beautiful practice in charitable fundraising that leads to names on bricks and buildings, in event programs, newsletters and bold type in the social pages. It works, for most people. But not everyone. This couple opened a donor advised fund at The Community Foundation in 2017 that helps hundreds in Martin County, and beyond, without a whisper of recognition.

While most people who give anonymously do so to avoid solicitations, a small percentage, just 5.3%, cite deeply held religious convictions. This couple doesn’t quite fall into that small minority, but they certainly got their start there. Both the husband and the wife remember childhood religious lessons encouraging their good deeds be carried out with no recognition or fanfare, so they never even considered using the family name for their fund or attaching it to donations. But beyond any religious conviction that drives their giving habits is a firm belief in doing the right thing even when nobody is watching.

What they stumbled upon was yet another great motivation for donating anonymously, one that anyone who has participated in a Pay-it-Forward chain at the Starbucks drive-thru can understand: it’s a lot of fun to quietly spread good fortune to others. So, they secretly pay rent for an outreach program they admire, supply materials for a class that enriches the lives of cancer patients, grant teachers’ wishes to bolster enthusiasm in education, send other people’s children to college. And

they give to a wide range of causes at established non-profits: disaster relief, animal welfare, arts and culture, child welfare, elder care, public education, the environment, health, literacy, and scientific research.

They admire the people whose names grace our libraries, museums, hospitals, benches and bricks, beside whom they work to build stronger, better opportunities for everyone. Even before they had children of their own, they pinned this reminder to the bulletin board in their home:

Each of us must come to care about everyone else’s children. We must recognize that the welfare of our children and grandchildren is intimately linked to the welfare of all other people’s children. After all, when one of our children needs life-saving surgery, someone else’s child will perform it. If one of our children is threatened or harmed by violence, someone else’s child will be responsible for the violent act. The good life for our own children can be secured only if a good life is also secured for all other people’s children. - Lillian Katz

In their fifties, with years ahead of them, this couple is likely to continue to break new ground and build more innovative ways to put their philanthropy to work in Martin County. You’ll see it or maybe read about it, but you won’t know they are behind it.

AANONYMOUS

HANDCRAFTEDPHILANTHROPY

MARJIE BUD JORDAN

Bud and Marjie Jordan are prime movers. For more than four decades, they have recognized urgent needs, devoted their prodigious energies to creating solutions, and set in motion the strategies and organizations that would bring them into being.

When Bud opened an office in Stuart in 1971 and became the community’s first stockbroker, Martin County seemed perfect. But even paradise needs constant tending. The St. Lucie River, the life blood of the Treasure Coast, was ailing, and the environmental and economic impacts compelled Bud and Kevin Henderson to found the St. Lucie River Initiative. The fight for our waterways continues, but it started with Bud, honored as a “Rainmaker” for his local, state and national efforts.

When an injury shortened his promising athletic career while he was in college, Bud joined the circus---quite literally. He learned to juggle and ride a unicycle and performed at Florida State football game half-time shows in full clown face. So keeping lots of projects in the air is second nature to him. While fighting for the river, he also became concerned about the economic health of the community and started the Economic Council, still active today on Martin County’s behalf.

Bud likes to say, “While I was worrying about maintaining the wealth of the community, Marjie was quite literally saving lives.” An accomplished maternal-child nurse, Marjie could see that there

was a serious gap in the care that mothers and babies were receiving. She started The Women’s Center, a free-standing birthing center that for 18 years provided person-centered care for women and children of the Treasure Coast. “Children and families are my passion,” Marjie says, and of all the many awards she has received, being named Maternal and Child Nurse of the Year for the entire state of Florida is the most meaningful.

Between the two of them, they’ve served on just about every non-profit board in the region and contributed to almost every fundraiser as both donors and workers. “Our philosophy is that we like to get in and get our hands dirty,” says Marjie, “and then as good things get started, we’re glad to step aside and let others keep things moving along.”

Instead of the stunning paintings by local artists that fill their home, the Jordans could easily mount plaques from wall to wall to honor their achievements. As Bud says, however, “A plaque is a one-time event. What we do day to day survives forever. Our award is to see things we started go on to flourish.”

It’s this attitude that led Bud to the creation of The Community Foundation. “I had clients without heirs or without any clear idea of how to create a lasting impact with their money,” Bud says. “From all of Marjie’s work in the non-profit sector and my own community involvement, I could see a way for their funds to stay locally, honor their passions, and leave a lasting legacy.”

From the unique vantage point of someone who was there at the creation, Bud can look at The Community Foundation Martin - St. Lucie with justifiable pride. It’s doing what he believed it could---impacting the community for the better while giving philanthropists a way to act on their “hot button” issues throughout their lives and beyond.

The Jordans could rest on their laurels at this point and simply enjoy their children and grandchildren. But of course that’s not who they are. So Bud continues to fight for the river, promote the local economy, serve his clients, and play an important role in The Community Foundation. For the past five years, Marjie has been involved with organizations fighting human trafficking and supporting girls who have been its victims. She is a founding member of Impact 100 Martin, helping this fledgling organization to grow, while being available for every good cause that involves children and families.

“I think we’ve had an ideal balance over the years,” Marjie says. “With my hands and feet in the non-profit world and with Bud’s brain in the business world, we’ve been a perfect match.” Hands, feet, brains and most of all heart-the Jordans never stop moving us forward.

PRIME MOVERS

JSJACK SMOUSE

Jack Smouse and his family had deep roots in Maryland and were well known to the community for their intense interests in land preservation and education. Over time Jack established multiple scholarships for students in the Maryland area and supported more than twenty organizations with his philanthropy. Eventually he moved to Florida and became involved in a new community and new philanthropic enterprises. By his passing, he had amassed a multi-million-dollar trust and very clear ideas of what was to be done with it.

Everyone who knew Jack recognized that he had had a “life well-lived,” and Jack was intent that his good fortune would be used to remove barriers so that others could have a good life as well. He was committed to charities that support schools for challenged children, faith communities, basic needs, and education, particularly in nursing, elder care, teaching and forestry.

A meticulous planner, Jack left detailed instructions for his complex multi-state philanthropic footprint: if organizations that he had cared about, regardless of their geography, were still in good standing, they should continue to be supported. Other causes should meet his specific areas of interests. Grants should be made off the earnings of his trust. His advisors who were involved with the trust during his lifetime should continue to be involved.

As Jack contemplated the long view of managing his trust far into the future, when he would no longer be able to express his wishes in person, his attorney and financial advisor directed him to The Community Foundation. Here, they believed, the trust would be “strategically, thoughtfully and meaningfully directed according to his wishes.”

The Community Foundation now acts as the administrator and indeed the concierge of Jack’s fund, forming partnerships with the organizations that Jack himself had selected over the years, coordinating with his long-standing advisors, and carrying out his wishes with the same spirit---“remove the barriers”---that motivated Jack throughout his life.

LifeaWELLLIVED

Pat Williams, Editor; Baron Graphics, Design; Steven Martine, Photography; Pat Austin and Denise Belizar, Contributors.

THE MISSION OF THE

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

MARTIN – ST. LUCIE IS TO

INSPIRE PHILANTHROPY

through the establishment

of charitable giving funds

to impact communities

across the United States

and around the globe.

772.288.3795851 SE Monterey Commons Blvd., Stuart, FL 34996

tcfmsl.org

REGIONALLOCAL NATIONAL GLOBAL