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Bob and Pam Long Donor Advised Fund
Bob and Pam Long learned about giving to others at a young age, and that lesson is practiced daily in both their professions and their lives.
Because of this shared compassion for their community, last summer summer they established the Bob and Pam Long Donor Advised Fund at the Hamilton Community Foundation. Their tax consultant, Melinda Fisher, told them about the Hamilton Community Foundation and the advantages of a donor advised fund. Through a donor advised fund, donors can receive a tax deduction in their year they start the fund; the money is invested for maximum growth at the Foundation.
As Bob and Pam’s accountant told them, Foundation is continually aware of community needs and can let them know current needs, and at the same time, Bob and Pam can call the Foundation with grant suggestions from the fund.
Bob now works part time as an instructor at Miami University and part time at Shared Harvest Food Bank. After reading about childhood poverty and talking with struggling families, he has seen the strong tie between a child’s ability to learn and access to healthy food. "Working at Shared Harvest has opened my eyes to kids that need help,” says Bob. He is especially fond of the backpack program, which provides the kids who qualify a backpack with an assortment of healthy snacks for the weekend. He also thinks about the kids in school who don't have snacks to bring in and must watch the other kids eat their snacks. “Whatever their circumstances are, it is never their fault,” adds Bob.
Pam is with the Catholic Social Action Office of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati for seven years and has spent quite a bit of time working with people with disabilities. “People with disabilities have great spirit,” she adds. She has traveled with Catholic Relief Services around the world, and her concerns are both local and global, including food sufficiency and fair trade.
She thinks it is important to work with people directly to determine needs and to listen to the community. “In effect, that is what the Hamilton Community Foundation is doing -- listening to our community and letting us know what the needs are so we can then say ‘That is what we want to be a part of.’”