About Brighter Tomorrows

JOIN THE BRIGHTER TOMORROWS LEGACY SOCIETY
You’ve worked hard to help bring Brighter Tomorrows to Lackawanna County’s children and families through you dedicated support of Outreach – Center for Community Resources. Your generosity has helped prepare children to enter kindergarten, helped parents find gainful employment, and helped create healthy families by supporting our parenting classes and child-serving programs.

Become a member in our Brighter Tomorrows Legacy Society and join others who want to make a difference for generations to come.

Legacy Society Charter Member Mary Belin Rhodes:

Mary has been involved with Outreach from its inception in 1998 as the Employment Opportunity & Training Center of Northeastern Pennsylvania. She has been a board member, a teacher at Lackawanna County Prison and a committed supporter through the years. Read why she joined Brighter Tomorrows.

For almost 30 years I have been involved with Outreach–Center for Community Resources (formerly EOTC). I’ve been a member of advisory committees, a board member, a volunteer and a member of several board committees. Since 2002 I’ve volunteered at Lackawanna County Prison through Outreach’s prison programs. Outreach is well-run, effective and pro-active. I want to continue to support the organization well into the future. That’s why I have designated in my will a bequest to Outreach.

 

Legacy Society Charter Member John S. Morrison, Jr.:

John has been a board member and supporter of Outreach for years. Read his testimony about what prompted his decision to make a bequest to Outreach.

Life can change in a heartbeat—literally and without warning. I came to this realization on a warm spring morning in 2006 while sweeping my sidewalk before I headed out to work. One swoosh of the broom followed by a burst of pain across my chest and I was on my way through a ten day adventure beginning with an EKG and stress test and ending a few days later with heart bypass surgery. I realized that my life would be changed forever.

I recall lying on a gurney in the cardiac cath lab waiting to be taken back to my room after being told that I would require surgery to relieve my symptoms and that there were inherent risks with the procedure. As I lay there I began to review my life- the successes, the failures, tasks not completed and how I should
memoralize my 58 years.

That was thirteen years ago. I took the opportunity to review my estate plan and discovered that it was out-of-date and never updated. Several insurance policies were never updated and financial instruments required attention. I had made donations of time and resources to several local non-profit organizations, but had no plan for managing these gifts. I also wanted to avoid burdening family members with these responsibilities.

I chose to make a legacy gift to Outreach/Center for Community Resources in the form of an unrestricted cash bequest in my will- the perfect complement to annual gifts made to the organization which ensures that my legacy carries on to provide for the long term success of the Center and supports parent/child programs, workforce development, drug & alcohol prevention,  family reunification/re-entry initiatives and community collaboration.

We’re  grateful for our Brighter Tomorrows Legacy Society charter members. Will you consider becoming a member?

Benefits