Planned Giving
As a child, Robert Kares would visit his grandmother Sarah and watch as she put money in the pushkah, the blue charity box that is synonymous with Jewish National Fund.
As an adult, when it came time to choose an organization that Robert and his wife, Gale, would invest in, Jewish National Fund was at the top of the list. “I did my research, and I was attracted to JNF because their sole purpose is to help Israel,” he said.
The Kareses, who live in Boynton Beach, Fla., reached out to Jewish National Fund and were put in touch with a Planned Giving professional, who, Robert says, “is a pleasure to work with. I told her what we wanted to do, and she worked with us.”
“They presented us with several options,” he recalled. “When Gale heard the words ‘medical center,’ she said ‘that’s what I want to invest in.’ It brings us back to the quote from the Talmud, ‘He who saves a life it is as if he has saved a whole world.’”
Thanks to their gift, the Kares Medical Center is under construction in the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona.
The couple didn’t stop there. Wanting to ensure that they were helping the whole of Israel, they came across the Ramat HaNegev Search and Rescue Center in southern Israel.
“I can’t physically help all of Israel, but symbolically, by funding a project in the north and in the south, I feel like I’m doing my part,” he said. Kares added that neither he nor his wife knew anyone in either Kiryat Shmona or the Ramat HaNegev region when they made their gifts.
That, he continued, was by design. “It was important that our charity was given from our hearts.”
In addition to these donations, the couple also funded a gift annuity, receiving lifetime income as part of their charitable giving to Jewish National Fund, a decision that Robert said worked well for them.
“We have the ability to help Israel and are proud to do so,” he said. “My advice to other people would be to call Jewish National Fund, speak to a Planned Giving professional, listen to what opportunities are available, and find something that excites you. That’s what we did.”
To learn more about the many ways you can leave your legacy with Jewish National Fund, call 800-562-7526 or email [email protected].
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