Carol's View on the Foundation

Carol G. Houwaart-Diez

Featured in the August 2022 issue of the Friends and Neighbors of Martin County newsletter

As we approach the end of summer and wrap up our family vacations, I wanted to highlight a lesser-known part of the United Way of Martin County. Our United Way is fortunate to have a separate foundation - the United Way of Martin County Foundation.

The Foundation's purpose is to build assets so that when new needs arise in Martin County, United Way is positioned to help our community respond. As an organization that has served Martin County for 50 years, the needs in our community continue to change as the community changes. There will always be individuals in every community who struggle to afford their basic needs - food, shelter and clothing. Those are programs that United Way will always support. However, in recent years, we have added new programs to meet the evolving needs of Martin County residents, including mental health, reading programs, and programs helping our homeless population.

We have many generous donors in our community who want to support the United Way in perpetuity. The United Way of Martin County Foundation allows philanthropists to build their legacy and extend their tradition of community responsibility beyond their lifetime through commitments in their will or trust, endowments and other planned gifts. We "officially" launched an endowment campaign last fall as we were entering our 50th Anniversary celebration year. What better time to launch our ambitious campaign than during our celebratory year?

Our endowment campaign started with almost $6 million in cash and investments. Our ambitious goal is $13 million in cash and investments. Once we reach this amount, the interest generated from this endowment will provide a minimum of $500,000 annually in funding to local programs in perpetuity. That would be an additional $500,000 to invest in programs that improve the lives of the residents right here in Martin County.  

We accept gifts in many ways, from outright cash gifts, to bequests, IRAs, life insurance, crypto coin, donor-advised funds, wills and more. 

Since we launched the official campaign, we are already more than halfway to our goal! Wouldn't it be amazing if we could reach our goal in the next two years to begin to invest that $500,000 in programs and services that are making an impact every day in the lives of our friends, neighbors and family in our community? 

We want to thank all the donors and corporations who have already made a gift or commitment to support the endowment campaign. For those who would like to join me and so many others in making a lasting impact right here in Martin County, please call our office at 772-283-4800 or visit www.UnitedWayMartin.org/Foundation to learn more.