When her husband suffered a massive heart attack, Ruth Terrill was forced to face her own mortality and begin her estate planning process. She learned about the free estate planning design service offered through Hutchinson Community Foundation.

Terrill found the experience so valuable that she started telling her friends and family about it. Soon, her daughters’ families and close family friends had all been through the estate planning process at the Community Foundation.

“The Community Foundation was very upfront from the beginning that they would like a gift, but they also told us that this was a free tool for us to use however we decided,” Lisa French, Terrill’s daughter said.

For each participant, the biggest value was seeing the many different ways their estates could take shape.

“We planned for our future and took care of necessities and our family,” said Jamie Funke, Terrill’s son-in-law. “We realized we had assets beyond what our families would need, and John helped us understand how we could best serve our community and the people who helped us get where we are today.”

While each family created a unique plan, they shared one thing in common: helping our community address changing needs through gifts to the Fund for Hutchinson. “Even if you have just a little, pooling it with others in a community endowed fund can make a big impact,” Lisa said.