Volunteering Leads to Charitable Donations

Marjorie Fletcher has been volunteering in the Cedar Rapids community for as long as she can remember.

 

“Helping Cedar Rapids has always been foremost in my mind,” said the retired middle school and high school English teacher.

 

This past fall, however, Fletcher decided to take her commitment to local nonprofit organizations one step beyond volunteering.

 

Through the help of her professional advisor and the Community Foundation, Fletcher selected six organizations and made end of the year contributions through distributions from her IRA. “I got to thinking how that money was just sitting in my IRA, and how these organizations could benefit from it and keep prospering.”

 

Not surprisingly, Fletcher’s choices of organizations to donate to were very much connected to her long-time volunteer efforts.

 

She gave to the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, where she has been a docent leading tours of school children for many years.

 

She donated to the American Red Cross, which she remembers having connected with even as a young girl.

 

Her donation to the Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre was inspired by her role as volunteer host home for opera performers visiting from out of town.

 

And Fletcher selected St. Paul United Methodist Church for a donation because she has belonged “for 1,000 years,” she joked.

 

She also donated to Theatre Cedar Rapids, where she has long enjoyed attending plays and serving as an usher.

 

And her sixth chosen organization was Waypoint. Fletcher noted she served as the President of the YWCA—Waypoint’s organizational predecessor—many years ago.

 

“They have enriched my life and I have learned from them,” Fletcher said of the organizations she supported in this way at the end of 2013. “It made me feel good to help others in such diverse ways.”

 

Fletcher was also delighted to receive personalized thank you notes from each organization expressing their gratitude.

 

Fletcher is a member of the Community Foundation’s William Quarton Heritage Society – which recognizes individuals who have made a permanent gift.  However, this is the first time Fletcher has given through the Community Foundation.  She enjoyed the opportunity to send her gifts in one direction while benefiting so many organizations.

 

“The Community Foundation is a big umbrella over all of us,” she said. “And the Foundation has done so many wonderful things through the years for so many wonderful organizations.”

 

That very statement is, in fact, true of Margie Fletcher herself.