Many of us are good at planning. We plan for vacations, our children's college tuition, our daughters' weddings and our retirements.
Unfortunately, not too many of us plan for what happens when we are no longer here. There seems to be fear around writing a will, as if the act will dictate our immediate demise.
Well, I have some good news! At UUSC we have more than 300 individuals who have taken the deliberate act of including UUSC in their estate plans.
One such couple is Rodney and Jeannette Debs of Niceville, Florida.
Rod and Jeannette met in 1982 and have been together ever since. Jeannette, a member of the Binghamton, NY UU Congregation was very active at the time Rod visited the congregation for the first time. Since that time, Rod went on to the seminary, together they have an adult daughter, and Rod is now the senior minister at the UU Fellowship of the Emerald Coast in Valparaiso, FL.
Rod and Jeannette enjoy riding their bikes and gardening together. And, as important, they recognize the importance of not only supporting human rights and social justice now, but when they are no longer here. Rod and Jeannette have made provision for their daughter in their will, but they have also included UUSC, because as Rod describes it: "UUSC conducts global work for social justice by working efficiently with partners around the world - reaching at risk populations where other NGO many times will not or can't go, and I want to leave a legacy that is significant if only to the beneficiaries of UUSC's work."
Including UUSC in their estate plans provides the Debs with the assurance that even when they are no longer around, the work of protecting women and girls and the most vulnerable populations will continue. And, they are proof positive that making your will does not indicate one's eminent demise.
