By staying in touch with the campus community, Professor Emerita Virginia Beal serves as a generous donor who is able to respond to tangible areas of giving such as student scholarships. Recently, she sat down to talk about her commitment to philanthropy.

Beal's ongoing contributions include recent gifts of securities to two endowed funds, the Virginia A. Beal Scholarship Fund and the Virginia A. Beal Lectureship Fund, which were established in 1989 in her honor. Her gift to the undergraduate scholarship fund in spring 2001 will help assist not only one, but two students in the Nutrition Department.

Another area of Beal's continued support is The Virginia A. Beal Lectureship Fund that provides support for an annual event which draws students, faculty, and the community to hear speakers present a wide variety of topics such as dietary needs and nutritional supplements. This fund is a reflection of Beal's interest in important and emerging issues in her field.

The commitment and example of a fellow UMass colleague inspired Virginia Beal's philanthropic spirit. She says that it was Helen Mitchell, the Head of Research in the Nutrition Laboratory from 1935-1943 and Dean of the School of Home Economics from 1946-1960, who led Beal to start the Virginia A. Beal Scholarship within the Nutrition Department. Beal says that she realized if Mitchell could start a scholarship fund, she could, too. She hopes that her contributions to these essential funds will inspire alumni, faculty, and friends to follow in her footsteps in order to enrich the resources for scholarships and programs.

Where are we to look for certainty in these uncertain times? Many of us have seen our portfolios shrink to fractions of their former sizes. For some, this is happening just when their security is needed for retirement. We all hope that that the current economic uncertainty is brief and that the recovery will be swift and complete.

In the meanwhile, there is a vehicle that may benefit many of you who are holding low or modestly performing securities. The charitable gift annuity offers a guaranteed income for life and an immediate income tax deduction. The annual payment rate may be higher than you are currently receiving from some of your securities.

A gift annuity can be set up for one beneficiary or two beneficiaries (at lower rates than indicated above) and can be funded by under-performing securities or with cash. As the securities would be gifted directly to UMass, you would not have to pay capital gains tax at the time of the gift. Capital gains taxes will be spread over the entire life of the annuity through the annual beneficiary payments.

The most satisfying aspect of the gift annuity is that it can be used to provide future support to the University. This gift can be used to provide future funding for scholarships, research or general operating support for a department or the School of Public Health and Health Sciences.

If you are interested in receiving further information about gift annuities or other planned giving opportunities, please contact Doug Adler, Assistant Director of Gift and Estate Planning, at 413-545-2796.