Scott and Laura-Lee Lewis of York, P.E.I., want to continue to help their community long after they are gone.
The couple has given two separate life insurance policies valued at a total of $500,000, split evenly between the QEH Foundation and the Community Foundation of P.E.I.
After their death, both charities will establish a Scott and Laura-Lee Lewis Endowment where the principal is invested and only the income is spent each year.
While looking into the many ways to make a meaningful gift to their much-loved charities, Scott and Laura-Lee concluded that life insurance was the best option.
“As business owners, we felt giving an insurance policy was the most affordable way for us to make a substantial gift and name the charity the owner and beneficiary of the policy,” says the pair.
Scott feels the life insurance option provides the opportunity to leverage the value of the couple’s gift to make an even larger gift overall.
“We were impressed how insurance helped increase our giving, and there were several additional benefits, including immediate tax relief against present or future tax returns, insurance is not subject to probate fees and also processed outside the estate,” he explains.
He adds people can transfer ownership of a paid-up policy, transfer an existing policy with premiums still owing or do what the Lewises did and purchase a new policy.
Laura-Lee says being a former director of the QEH Foundation and a division chairwoman for the Friends for Life Campaign was insightful.
“It gave us a deep appreciation for the unending work that is happening to improve health care on the Island,’’ she says.
“We felt compelled to help with future medical needs and also to assist the other organizations that deal with some of the challenges of life to make circumstances better for all.”
“We have adopted the virtues of other community-minded people within our province and truly believe in living life, and somewhat in death, all we can expect to take is that which is given."
-Scott Lewis
Gift keeps giving
When Scott and Laura-Lee Lewis die, an endowment will be established in their name to benefit both the QEH Foundation and the Community Foundation of P.E.I. The principal $500,000 gift remains intact, and a portion of the earnings are granted every year to each of the organizations in perpetuity. Here is a quick look at the beneficiaries.
- QEH Foundation: Its mission is to raise funds for priority medical equipment for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. As the province’s main referral hospital, 80 per cent of the Island’s specialists work out of the QEH. It is the home of P.E.I.’s Cancer Treatment Centre, the Provincial Acute Stroke and Rehabilitation Units, as well as the Provincial NICU.
- Community Foundation of P.E.I. (CFPEI): Now in its 26th year, CFPEI currently manages over 80 funds with a combined value of over $11 million and distributes funds to all corners of the community in arts and culture, education, health, social services and the environment. CFPEI works with its donors to realize their philanthropic goals, matching their interests with the needs of the community.
Scott reflected on his childhood and how communities were more self-sufficient.
“When we look back, mostly everyone we knew grew up on a family farm where the community meant everything – where families shopped, went to church and where children attended school. Everything you needed was a short distance from home, and today so much has changed, but the sense of community has remained.”
Scott has recently retired from his family farm, Lewis Bros. Inc., which involved potato growing, packing and shipping, as well as a large purebred dairy herd. He is now involved in land development. Laura-Lee was from Meadow Bank and a long-time employee of Norton’s Jewellers Ltd.
Both are dedicated volunteers to their favourite charitable organizations, with Scott volunteering as treasurer of First Baptist Church Charlottetown, a weekly plasma donor and a dog walker with the P.E.I. Humane Society. On top of volunteering with the QEH Foundation, Laura-Lee is past president of the Rotary Club of Charlottetown Royalty and has helped Heart and Stroke.
“We tend to be private with our affairs, but each foundation convinced us by sharing that we will inspire others, the same way we were inspired by those who gave before us,” adds Scott and Laura-Lee.
Ed Lawlor, QEH Foundation chairman, says it is critical that the province’s main referral hospital has the most up-to-date medical equipment so Island families can receive good health care now and in the future.
“So we say thank you to Scott and Laura-Lee for this wonderful contribution,” says Lawlor.
John Robinson, past president of the Community Foundation of P.E.I., notes this is the first life insurance policy for the foundation.
“So, this is very exciting news going forward, and we know others will be encouraged by the Lewis’s. We also convey our utmost gratitude,” he says.
Scott and Laura-Lee have named five organizations that will benefit from their CFPEI gift: Camp Gencheff Inc.; Stars for Life Foundation of P.E.I.;, Children’s Wish Foundation (P.E.I.), Island Pregnancy Care & Support Services and the P.E.I. Humane Society.
“We have adopted the virtues of other community-minded people within our province and truly believe in living life, and somewhat in death, all we can expect to take is that which is given," says Scott.
