By Scot Madson, Board of Director
"Whenever a person decides to get involved in a charitable organization, there are a number of questions that he or she ask of themselves. First of all, who deserves charity? Why be charitable? Who is going to benefit from this donation?
Answering these questions, everyone has to personally decide what is important to them and how important it is to others. In the past whenever I have been involved in a charitable organization, either as a donor or as a member of the organization requesting donations, I always seem to favor children over adults. Children cannot control the situation that they are in, where adults can.
In the Brian LaViolette Scholarship Foundation, I found that the young adults who have received these scholarships, are not only very worthy, but the scholarships change their lives. The unfortunate tragic accident that took the life of Brian at a very young age, has turned out to be a tremendous benefit for many other young people. The inspiration that Brian LaViolette has been to other people has been phenomenal. The foundation awards scholarships in different denominations all over Northeastern Wisconsin and beyond.
We found that the scholarships change students' lives, as it gives them the opportunity to pursue a career in service whether it be a military service or service to others. What we would like to see is continual charitable contributions that allow young people to go on to do great things as Brian would have done.
What is in your heart? What is important to you? Why help those who cannot help themselves? These are all great questions that we have to wrestle with in dealing with financial request. Giving can be done in many ways; 1) cash donation once or over time by pledging, 2) transfer of stock (most effective are stocks that appreciate in value), 3) beneficiary of a life insurance or annuity policy, or 4) a gift of real estate.
The scholarship recipients in the past have gone on to do great things in many fields of business, industry, military and social work. We never know what direction a young person's life is going to take, all we can hope, is to impact it in a positive way."
