When Ruth and Bob Barker reworked their estate plans, they knew they wanted to include charitable gifts for the community.

“As we’ve gotten older and our children have become established, we saw an opportunity to give back to Hutchinson, the place that has been our life, our community,” said Ruth. “It has given us so much.”

The problem? They didn’t know how to decide which organizations should benefit.

“We looked at our church and all of the other great organizations in our community,” said Bob. “But we were confused how to approach giving because it’s difficult to know where the needs will be in the future.”

That’s when Ruth and Bob’s attorney, Jim Gilliland, saw an opportunity for the Barkers to connect with Hutchinson Community Foundation.

Over lunch with Foundation President Aubrey Patterson, they discussed ways the Community Foundation could help them, especially as they considered their charitable legacy in Reno County. The couple quickly settled on a percentage gift from their trust to the Fund for Hutchinson.

“It was an easy decision to contribute to a common community fund overseen by people who are as interested in the community as we are,” said Bob. “The process is simple, and it’s a fund that makes grants to all the organizations we care about. And most importantly, timely decisions can be made to address important needs in the community that we’re not aware of yet.”