8/17/2024 Email

At the risk of forgetting what my own bed feels like, I am having one last hurrah before
summer ends. The entirety of my vacation was supposed to be at the Jersey Shore, but then
my daughter, Catherine, threw us a curve ball. The two friends who had driven with her
cross country had dierent plans for getting back this way from Jackson Hole, so it has
fallen to me to fly to Wyoming this weekend and drive back to the East Coast with her.
I absolutely don’t mind! While we won’t have time to meander and see many sights, it will
be a treat to spend three days sharing this adventure with her. We will drive straight to the
Jersey Shore, where we will reunite with the whole family, including Moose.
Before I leave, I do want to share one work-related item with you. This month, August, is
National Make a Will Month. Not exactly a Hallmark holiday, but something we note with
interest at the Catholic Community Foundation.
I hope that most of you have made your estate plans, but I have consistently seen a
statistic quoted that 70% of adults do not have a will. If you fall into that category, I
encourage you to make an appointment with an attorney. If that seems daunting, and if
your estate is relatively straightforward, the CCF has partnered with FreeWill, which
provides no-cost estate planning tools that are simple and 100% legal. You can access
FreeWill here.
As someone who did not make a will until just a few years ago, trust me when I tell you it
will give you peace of mind to get this taken cared of. Remember, too, that estate plans
shouldn’t just be made and put on a shelf. My husband and I recently reviewed ours, and
we discovered a couple of things that no longer made sense, and we were able to easily
change them. Whew!
That’s all for the public service announcement… I hope you all have a wonderful week, and
I will check in after my I-80 adventure across the USA!

God Bless,

Margaret Keightley
Executive Director
Catholic Community Foundation of the Diocese of Richmond