Spring Lake Village residents responded to the challenge from the Outreach Committee in December to support The Living Room with generous contributions of $28,500.

The Spring Lake Village Outreach Committee started 20 years ago in 2001 with the mission to support charitable activities in the Sonoma County community through direct services and fundraising. The committee limits annual fundraisers to three per year. In 2020, residents focused on the specific needs of housing (raising money for Habitat for Humanity, Sonoma County), childhood education (the Head Start program in Sonoma County), and hunger and homelessness (The Living Room).

When the pandemic hit, The Living Room, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women and children who are homeless or at-risk of becoming homeless, transitioned to a crisis center. The SLV donations will be used to provide hot take-out meals at a pick-up window, taking meals into community shelters, and providing information services to women and children in need of help in Sonoma County.

All of these services are provided in a manner that strictly observes social distancing and minimizes exposure to the volunteers and those in need in these vulnerable times. “We are overcome with the generosity of Spring Lake Village residents,” writes Director Rebecca Rogoway. “Thank you all, each and every one of you.”

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St. Paul’s Towers started off the season by surprising Oakland’s First Responders with baked goods and treats for Thanksgiving as well as personalized notes thanking them for their work. “It’s important to remember those who cannot spend the holidays with their loved ones which is why we always look forward to doing something special for our first responders,” says Life Enrichment Director Connie Yuen. “Residents really enjoy decorating cookies or writing notes to be given away and our staff enjoy personally thanking those who put their lives on the line for our community.”

Also in Oakland, Carolyn Bolton, Covia’s Director of Senior Resources for Alameda County, organized a fabulous Thanksgiving meal delivery for 200 older adults from Oakland to San Francisco! Staff members from  Covia Well Connected, Covia Home Match, and the Covia Foundation were there to help stuff all the goodie bags. They even got to say hello to one of our newest Home Match San Francisco participants, Nora, who volunteered for the event. Carolyn and her team, including Katharine Miller, Executive Director of the Covia Foundation, returned at Christmas to deliver 210 dinners to isolated seniors.

In Palo Alto, Webster House hosts an annual bake sale with the proceeds going to a community cause. This year, the funds went to Pets in Need, a local non-profit organization that runs two no-kill shelters in Santa Clara County. “In addition to the bakery items, the senior residents donated their hand-made jewelry, and one talented staff member baked fancy dog biscuits for the pets,” according to Pat Lau, Webster House Activity Coordinator. The bake sale raised $700 for Pets In Need.

For the past 15 years, Spring Lake Village staff members have taken on the role of Santa for children in Sonoma County through an annual toy drive. “It is something very special to our community,” says Liz Green, Director of Programs & Transportation. “This truly shows the character of our staff. Many buy not just one toy per child, but often times two or three. We used to do 25 tags, but have increased it to 35 in recent years because of the popularity. All 35 requests have been met by our staff!”

Our communities are always looking for new ways to give back. San Francisco Towers hosted its first ever blood drive just two days before Christmas. Coordinated by San Francisco Towers Life Enrichment Director, Megan Sullivan, the Vitalant Bloodmobile arrived at SFT at 10am on December 23^rd. During the blood drive, which ran from 10am to 2pm, they collected 12 pints of blood with donations from staff and residents, including night shift nurse Jessa Chatto who came in just for the occasion!

“Having been a regular blood donor for 30 years, it was important to me to bring this opportunity to our residents,” says Sullivan. “Giving blood is one of the greatest gifts we can share with others, but it also gives us feelings of accomplishment, value and meaning. Our residents were grateful for the opportunity to be needed and have purpose. And they’re already signing up for the next one!”

All of us at Covia know that feeling of accomplishment, value, and meaning that comes from paying it forward and giving to others. We’re glad to know we have been able to make a difference in many lives, and we look forward to bringing more joy to the world around us in 2020!

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ignificant gift in his will to support Ruth’s Table, leaving a legacy to creative aging.

Charles “Chuck” Raymond’s passions in life included design, architecture and an extensive network of close friends. Mr. Raymond graduated on full scholarship with honors from the University of Michigan, School of Architecture. He established a well-respected architectural firm, Raymond Designs of Atlanta, Georgia, concentrating for 30 years on commercial airport retail.

Long-time friend Jerry Brown, Covia Senior Director of Affordable Communities, recalls meeting Chuck through a mutual friend who was on his staff as an interior designer. “Chuck was like Cary Grant,” Jerry recalls. “He was debonair, intelligent, and loved the arts, fashion and design.”

Chuck also loved to travel, visiting museums and enjoying the cuisine and culture from London to Paris, Barcelona, Malta, Australia, New Zealand, and Buenos Aires. Jerry remembers the New Year’s Eve dinner and fireworks he shared with Chuck in 2005 at Jules Verne atop the Eiffel Towers. “We also shared family Thanksgiving dinner in 2009 at Windows of the Worlds atop New York’s World Trade Center,” Jerry recalls.

Chuck retired to Palm Springs in 2017 and, through his friendship with Jerry, discovered the range of programs supporting creative expression at Ruth’s Table at Bethany Center. Chuck was an avid art collector with special interest in Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol. At Ruth’s Table, he purchased two pieces from the gallery showing of artist Jennifer Ewing’s “Spirit Boats,” meant to symbolize passage and metaphysically hold a person as they journey.

Ruth’s Table Director Jessica McCracken remembers fondly that Chuck participated in the Ruth’s Table community production of its 50th Anniversary artwork “Crochet Jam” by artist Ramekon Artwisters. The piece hangs in the lobby of Bethany Center.  “Through it we’ll always have a little bit of Chuck’s spirit with us,” she said.

Jerry noted that Chuck will be remembered by residents, participants, staff, and board members for his love of the arts, fashion, puns, cuisine and world travel that he connected with the diverse seniors of Bethany Center and Ruth’s Table.

Chuck’s estate gift to the Bethany Center Foundation will help support programs at Ruth’s Table that bring people together in creative expression, inspiring Bethany Center residents in creativity and wellness exercise to stimulate the brain, the body and the spirit.

If you have included Covia Foundation or the Bethany Center Foundation in your will or estate plan, please let us know so that we can say thank you. For information on how to include a program or community you care about in your will or estate plan, please contact Covia Foundation Executive Director Katharine Miller at 925.956.7414 or kmiller@covia.org. We’d love to help you make a difference, supporting something you care about.

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“The energy of the day was truly remarkable,” says Katharine Miller, Executive Director of the Covia Foundation. “We couldn’t do this without the enthusiasm and involvement of the many people who partner with Covia to promote life-changing services for seniors.”

Over 200 corporate and individual participants, including our title sponsor City Building, Inc., supported the event. The sold-out golf tournament on the cool and sunny course provided scenic bay views throughout the day. Mike Acosta, Vince Baldwin, Steve Baldwin, and Bob Giarusso won the tournament in a playoff against Barry Johnson, Jenny Noymany, Mark Marshall, and John Durham.

The evening auction, hosted by Liam Meyclem from KCBS’ Eye on the Bay, provided its own entertainment as participants tried to outbid each other for a Farm to City Private Dinner at San Francisco Towers or an evening with Covia CEO Kevin Gerber. The auction raised more than $80,000, with almost half coming from fund-a-need bidding to support Covia Community Services and Covia Affordable Communities as attendees learned the stories of seniors whose lives have been touched by Covia through a video created for the event.

For going above and beyond in their service to seniors and senior living, and their generous support to Covia over the years, the team from Morrison Community Living was the recipient of this year’s Celtic Cup.

“It was a successful event,” says Miller. “But more importantly, the funds we raised make a difference, ensuring that seniors have a safe home and remain connected with the greater community. We’re grateful for the generosity of all who attended.”

You can see photos of the event in an album on our Facebook page.

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While the primary motivation for most charitable gifts is a desire to make a difference, not simply tax breaks, good financial planning leaves more for charitable gifts. Donors are paying attention to the impact of the new tax law – and making plans to maximize the difference their gifts can make.  The Covia Foundation offered several workshops this year on maximizing your charitable contribution and offers the following strategies you can use for your own planning purposes.

The new tax law that went into effect for 2018 nearly doubles the standard deduction to $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for married couples filing jointly. That means fewer Americans will itemize deductions on their tax returns – including charitable gifts.

Using tax-smart giving strategies can allow some donors to give more and enable others to grow their initial contributions tax-free until funds are disbursed to designated organizations:

APPRECIATED STOCK:

One strategy is to donate appreciated assets such as stocks or real estate directly to a charity. Donors receive the fair-market value of the asset at the time of the gift as a charitable deduction – without incurring the capital gains tax they would face if selling an appreciated asset outright. The charity then liquidates the asset and puts the funds to work to make a difference.

IRA CHARITABLE ROLLOVER:

Taxpayers over the age of 70 ½ can plan a Qualified Charitable Distribution from their Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA). Diverting some or all of the required minimum distribution from an IRA can provide financial benefits. While the distribution doesn’t count as a charitable deduction, it also doesn’t add to the donor’s adjusted gross income – which can reduce income taxes (and possibly Medicare premiums). Up to $100,000 annually may be requested as a Qualified Charitable Distribution.

DONOR ADVISED FUNDS:

Donors can make several years’ worth of charitable gifts in cash or appreciated assets to a donor-advised fund. This strategy can provide an immediate tax deduction on the amount contributed and allows the donor to direct gifts from the fund each year to the charities he or she supports.

Charities are able to continue their work in good part because of the support of people who care about making a difference. Planning ahead gives you the opportunity to make an even bigger impact with your charitable dollars. Generosity combined with knowledge can make all the difference in the world.

If you would like to attend a future charitable giving forum, please contact Michelle Haines, Covia Foundation Development Associate, at mhaines@covia.org. And to join our effort to provide life-changing support for seniors, please visit our secure online donation page.

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It is money grubbing time again. Buy, buy, buy, and then buy more. For those of us who stress about what to buy, discombobulation can smash our frames of mind. Mettle is challenged. Yet it need not be that way. Here are some ways of giving that are guaranteed to please and leave your purse or wallet untouched. Rank and randy commercialism be damned! Embrace the wonders of giving simply. Curiously they are worth more than money could ever buy. They are fun for you too.

First. Make two phone calls per day to friends or family that you have not spoken with for a long time. This is personal and profound. It is not a mass-produced card. The personal touch is rarely practiced in this era of electronic babble. You too will be enveloped in the warmth and surprise of the call. If you don’t know the person’s phone number, it is easy to find and free. Ask me and I’ll teach you how to do it.

Second. Write three short hand-written notes daily for 30 days. The message need not be long. Just one sentence or phrase – just like on the $2 cards. Example: “I appreciate hearing your cheerful voice when I call. Thanks.” It’s the personal touch that does the trick. Such touches are scarce these days. A written note takes a minute or so to write. By the end of 30 days you will have brought some warmth into the lives of nearly 100 people! That’s a quiet antidote to the current climate where insults, blame saying, arrogance, and egotism seem to flourish unchallenged.

Third. Here’s some gifts for close friends and family. Write a simple story about an earlier experience, perhaps shared or perhaps not. Each of our apartments is full of things with stories. I’ve given some in my family treasured seasonal decorations along with stories about what our family was like when we used the decoration. I described some of the traditions and the circumstances of that earlier time. Scooter wrote a story about her family and the world during the year before each of her kids was born. Whew! What a treasure.

Think simple giving. That may just be our way to put the human spirit back into the holidays and to penetrate those thick bastions of religious traditions and beliefs.

This is a season when many faiths celebrate the good in us all. A leader of the Hasidic Jews observed: “Everyday life is hallowed, and each of us is responsible for the bit of existence that has been entrusted to our care.” Let’s keep the traditions of giving centered on people.

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All of us want to share our deepest gratitude to all of our supporters. Your support will help seniors living in Covia’s Affordable Housing communities as well as those living in their own homes throughout the Bay Area. The funds from the Celtic Cup provide vital services such as nutrition, emergency assistance and a community of support for thousands of low-income and isolated seniors.

Fore! Golfers Out In Force

It was a beautiful day on the picturesque Orinda Country Club course. More than 120 golfers brought their best game on a picture perfect day. Congratulations to this year’s tournament winners!

1st place: Dennis Colvin, Al Climent, Jeff Hyer, Michael Ofstedahl.
2nd Place: David Chin, Terry Gilmore, John Fradelizion, Ken Keeney.
3rd Place: Matt Baldwin, Wally Baldwin, Bill Gilmartin, Steve Spina.

Kudos to the course contest winners!

• Closest to the Pin – Men: Dave Ring
• Closest to the Pin – Women: Ginni Henri
• Most Accurate Drive – Men: Dave Costello
• Most Accurate Drive – Women: Dee Ann Campbell

Celtic Cup Presented to Long-time Supporters

Special thanks to the recipients of the 2018 Celtic Cup, Bill and Connie Ring. The Celtic Cup honors those who have provided dedicated support to the Covia Foundation in its service to seniors. Bill and his wife Connie helped kick off the inaugural Celtic Cup in 2012 and Bill has served as emcee of the evening gala and live auction for seven years running. President and CEO Kevin Gerber presented the Rings with the Celtic Cup to conclude the gala dinner. Congratulations, Bill & Connie!

Click here to find more photos from this year’s Golf Tournament and Gala Dinner.

Thank you, Sponsors, Staff, and Friends

Many thanks to our 2018 Gold Sponsors:

And to our generous Silver Sponsors:
City Building, Inc.
Morrison Community Living
Nelson T. Lewis Construction Co., Inc.
PharMerica
T.C. Castle Construction, Inc.
Ziegler

Join Us Next Year!

We hope you’ll join us for the 8th Annual Celtic Cup in 2019. If you have any questions about this year’s event, please contact Michelle Haines at 925.956.7448 or visit our website at celticcup.org. Find out more about the Covia Foundation, what we support, and how to give here.

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