Robert and Mae Turner created a Donor Advised Charitable Gift Fund with United Methodist Foundation in 1996. The following story is about meeting Mae Turner in February 2001.
I looked forward to meeting Mae Turner. She and her late husband, Robert, had created a Donor Advised Charitable Gift Fund with the proceeds from a charitable gift and sale of 19 acres of land up in Gates County, NC. As this had been accomplished before I began at UMF, this was my first opportunity to meet Mae and to discuss her suggestions for the distribution of what remained in the Turner Charitable Gift Fund. I expected to have a delightful time meeting with Mae and participating in her joyful celebration of the ministries she and Robert supported during their life together. I was not disappointed.
Our meeting was just as I had imagined it would be. I arrived at her cottage door at 10:00 a.m. as planned. Mae greeted me warmly and invited me into her living room. On the outside her cottage was much the same as a number of others on the Parkview Retirement Center campus in Sanford, but inside, so beautifully decorated, it was as if it was taken right out of the pages of a magazine.
As I sat carefully in an antique velvet chair near Mae, I expressed appreciation for her benevolence on behalf of the Church and thanked her for allowing United Methodist Foundation to serve as trustee of the Fund.
Mae reviewed the Methodist ministries that she and Robert had supported and those that she was prepared to suggest would receive consideration for the final distribution from the Fund. A portion was suggested for the building fund at Buxton United Methodist Church – Hatteras Charge, Mae’s home church. Another portion was suggested for the building fund at St. Luke UMC in Sanford, and the balance was to be divided between Heart of Carolina Emmaus Community and the Sandhills Emmaus Community - both for scholarship fund support.
We visited at length about the ministries of the Methodist Church, about family and friends and growing up in North Carolina. Too soon it was time for me to leave, but I had one final question. I asked Mae to share with me her most joyful experience in creating the Robert and Mae Turner Charitable Fund.
Without pause, Mae leaned forward in a confidential pose, glanced to her left as if Robert was sitting next to her, and said,
“Well, I will tell you what we’re mad about. We’re mad that we did not learn about the Foundation and this way of giving sooner. We would have given a lot more of what we had to the Church. You need to tell people about how they can give to the Church.”
You can only imagine my reaction. When I heard these words I nearly fell out of my chair. I was stunned, no doubt with my eyes wide and my jaw dropped. Of all the possible things I’d expected to hear, that wasn’t even on the list!
With grace and warmth Mae went on to say how glad she and Robert were to be able to give in this way. Her only regret seemed to be that she and her husband had not heard about the United Methodist Foundation sooner. As life-long Methodists, they had already retired, moved to Sanford and sold most of their property before learning of the services of UMF from their pastor, Rev. Paul Leeland, and from some good friends who earlier had created a Life-Income Giving Plan with the Foundation.
Mae grasped my hand as I was leaving and, with a warm smile, thanked me for visiting and urged me to “tell others what good they can do.”
I will always remember Mae for her warm and gracious hospitality, and for her words that encourage me today to tell others how wonderful it is to give and how the Foundation can help
Mae’s concerns about giving are important today. The right giving techniques, combined with the right reasons, make for a great and long-lasting gift. The way in which the Turners’ gave and in which you may choose to give can be for many a once-in-a-life-time opportunity.
If you want to know more about the creative ways you can give to the ministry through your church or community charity, please call your United Methodist Foundation toll free at 800-555-4718, or e-mail , Executive Director
After all, we don’t want anyone to get mad at us!
"Well, I will tell you what we’re mad about. We’re mad that we did not learn about the Foundation and this way of giving sooner. We would have given a lot more of what we had to the Church. You need to tell people about how they can give to the Church.”
- Mae Turner