Meet Our Donors
We thank all our planned-gift donors for their generous support. Here are some of their stories.
Jennifer Rimerman and her mother, Helen, with the late Morton W. Rimerman.
A retired PECO Energy Company executive, Morton Rimerman of Rose Valley, PA led an extremely active life. He served on the boards of several non-profit organizations as a way to give back to the community, and enjoyed many hobbies including woodworking, chair caning, and furniture making. On December 5, 2005, Morton visited the ALS Clinical Care Center at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, a day that would forever change the Rimerman family’s lives. Morton was diagnosed as having Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
“They’re the greatest group of people that you hope to never have to meet,” was how Morton affectionately described the care team at the clinic to his friends. Unfortunately, Morton’s ALS progressed very rapidly. He lost his battle to the disease on Valentine’s Day 2006 at the age of 76, only eight months after the initial onset of symptoms.
According to Jennifer Rimerman, Morton’s daughter, her father was a highly detail-oriented person who had given careful consideration to his estate plans throughout his adult life. By contrast, eighteen months after Morton’s death, Jennifer was involved as the only next of kin in an aunt’s will that was written in 1939. Through this experience, Jennifer learned how a lack of proper planning and updating one’s will can be damaging, which motivated Jennifer and her mother, Helen, to look at their own estate plans with fresh eyes.
Jennifer and Helen knew that they wanted to leave something to The ALS Association out of appreciation for the many free services that Morton received from the Chapter including in-home care, loaned medical equipment, counseling, and of course his visits to the ALS clinic. However, they also wanted to provide for each other, first, before making any charitable distributions through their respective estates. The solution was relatively simple. In each case, The ALS Association is named as a secondary beneficiary in their wills. In Helen’s will, Jennifer is named as the primary beneficiary with The ALS Association listed in the second position, and likewise with Jennifer’s will.
“We are a small family and felt completely lost when my father was diagnosed with ALS,” Jennifer remembered. “The Greater Philadelphia Chapter was there for us every step of the way throughout my dad’s illness and became like extended family,” she added. “In thinking about our estate plans, it was very natural for us to include the Chapter. After all, family comes first!”
Click here to learn more about supporting the Chapter with a bequest in your will.
Dale Shimer
After my wife, Marge’s death from ALS in April 1999, I decided that I wanted to assist the Chapter’s efforts with both my personal time and financial resources. The Chapter had always been there, at the clinic or on the telephone, to offer much-needed and much-appreciated advice and support. I thought that my aid could serve as a form of “thank you.”
I was rather quickly offered numerous opportunities to utilize my available time and abilities in the Chapter’s many activities through volunteering, and I have continued my involvement, now also as a member of the Board of Directors.
The form of my financial support for the Chapter, however, took more time and thought on my part to decide. I had quickly retired upon learning my wife’s ALS diagnosis and then had been quite absorbed as her sole caregiver for four years. Therefore, after her death, my earlier modest estate planning needed a reassessment. I sought advice from an attorney for my much altered future, telling him that I wished to minimize the future impact of taxes on my estate in order to maximize the amounts going to my children at my death. In addition, I indicated that I wanted to share some of my current income with the Chapter. The attorney felt that a Charitable Lead Trust was a good fit for my particular circumstances and desires.
The Charitable Lead Trust that I established and funded provides annual payments to the Chapter for a period of ten years. After this period, the trust assets and income will be available to my heirs on a very tax-effective basis.
From working closely with the Chapter staff, I have observed, first hand, the caring support being extended to ALS patients and their caregivers. It is personally very satisfying to know that my time and the Charitable Lead Trust that I established will not only aid this effort and contribute toward finding a cure for ALS, but also provide a lasting tribute to my wife.
Click here to learn more about Charitable Trusts.
Mrs. G. Mary Lincoln
Mary Lincoln of Gettysburg, PA traces her involvement with the Greater Philadelphia Chapter back to the very roots of the organization. “When my husband, Bob, was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease in 1977, not much was known about ALS at that time,” said Mary. “The Greater Philadelphia Chapter was really just getting started, and when I read that a support group was being organized in Hanover, PA I knew that I had to go see if I could be involved. As it turned out, for 15 years I volunteered to be the telephone contact person for that group.”
Mary has also been a steady contributor to the ALS Association and recently made a gift to the Chapter in the form of a charitable gift annuity in memory of her husband. “I continue to support the Chapter because I know that families touched by ALS need all the help they can get. I was in a position of needing to increase my income, and the annuity I have with the ALS Association provides me with guaranteed fixed payments for the rest of my life at a rate of 9.5%. I would definitely urge others to consider this unique giving option.”
Click here to learn more about Charitable Gift Annuities.