Leave a Legacy Month is an important time to highlight the power of legacy giving on charities, schools and organizations. As part of our Spotlight Series, we want to shine a light on organizations that are doing incredible work during COVID-19.
Boots on the Ground
First responders courageously put their lives and safety on the line to protect our communities everyday. They now face added challenges, stress and risks associated with COVID-19 - yet bravely continue working to keep the public safe. To help support first responders Boots on the Ground provides confidential and compassionate peer support to first responders, available 24/7.
Boots on the Ground is a non-profit organization, run entirely by a volunteer team of serving and retired first responders who offer their services to police officers, firefighters, EMS and corrections officers across Ontario (both serving and retired). Boots on the Ground was started by Dave McLennan, a police officer who, on the verge of retirement, wanted to continue serving his community and make a difference in the lives of first responders who are exposed to trauma.
In honour of Leave a Legacy Month, Dave answered some questions for us about legacy and the impact of charitable gifts at Boots on the Ground.
“What does legacy mean to you?”
“Legacy is a story of someone's life and something that a person leaves behind to be remembered by.”
“What is the best way for someone to help your organization?”
“Our organization can be best helped by financial assistance and program awareness.”
“How do donations/legacy gifts impact your organization?”
“Boots On The Ground is a non profit organization completely run and staffed by volunteers. A legacy gift would have a huge impact by allowing us to keep our 24/7 peer support helpline operational. It would allow us to train volunteers, raise awareness about our program and help us with operational costs. All money donated to Boots On The Ground goes directly into helping us keep the program operational.”
While Leave a Legacy Month raises awareness about the importance of leaving a gift to a charity in your will, this year it’s also a special reminder to give back where we can to help charities with their immediate needs - whether it’s by donating your time, resources or money. We write our legacy each and every day through acts of kindness and generosity.
If you have “making a will” on your to-do list, use promo code LEGACY20 to save $20 on any Willful plan during Leave a Legacy Month. If you are a first responder who is risking your own health and safety during COVID-19, we want to help: we’re giving away free Willful plans to the frontline across Canada until May 31st. Thank you to the heroes who are caring for people across Canada. Our mission at Willful is to protect Canadian families, and you’re doing that every day. We hope this is one small way we can help.
Help support the great work at Boots on the Ground by donating to their fundraiser today.
