"When I saw it, I grabbed it!"

Shirley spent her 31-year career in education teaching high school students accounting, shorthand, typing, and other business-focused classes. Now retired, she is devoted to supporting Catholic organizations. "I was born Catholic, grew up Catholic and will die Catholic. I never had children, and don't have nieces or nephews to take care of, so I want to give to charity," said Shirley.

Shirley has been a loyal viewer of EWTN for more than a decade. "I'm not much of a TV person, but when I do watch, it is always EWTN. I never change the station," said Shirley. Since the pandemic, she has watched more EWTN than usual. She enjoys all the programs, but her favorite shows are Daily Mass, special Masses, and EWTN News.

Shirley was excited when she learned from the Legacy Giving Newsletter that EWTN through the National Catholic Community Foundation, offered Charitable Gift Annuities. She was already familiar with this type of giving. Charitable Gift Annuities appealed to Shirley because they gave her a big tax deduction and a good interest rate. She enjoyed that she received fixed payments for life. She also knew that the remainder would accomplish her charitable giving intentions and benefit EWTN.

According to Shirley, "When I saw it, I grabbed it!" She called Karen Silva, who was able to provide her with an individual gift illustration. The custom proposal provided Shirley with detailed figures that included the amount of the fixed payments based on Shirley's age as well as estimated tax benefits. Shirley was able to establish her Charitable Gift Annuity within two weeks of her initial call.

Shirley intends to keep giving through Charitable Gift Annuities. New Charitable Gift Annuities may also provide additional tax benefits. Shirley's hope is that the residuum from her Charitable Gift Annuities will one day continue the evangelization efforts of EWTN to future generations.

Charitable Gift Annuities have been an effective giving strategy for Shirley. If you want to learn more and determine if a Charitable Gift Annuity could be right for you, please contact the Legacy Giving Program to schedule a no-cost, no-obligation phone call with one of our Gift Planners.

Inspire others by sharing your story with our EWTN Family at (205) 271-4522 or [email protected]. For more stories, visit www.ewtnlegacy.org.