Meet Bob
Krenelka, Staples, Minnesota
Ask Robert (Bob) Krenelka why
he gives to LSS, and his answer is immediate: "I got to know LSS sometime
ago when Clifford Fox visited me. He gave me all the details about LSS, so
I felt confident that my gifts would benefit others."
Fox retired from LSS in the
early 1990s and has since died. But the connection between Bob and LSS
continues.
"I wanted to give where there
was a real need, and where it (my donation) can make a difference to
people who need help. I think that LSS helps a lot of people through their
work."
Mary Ella Pratte, LSS
development officer, visits Bob in his Staples home whenever she is
passing through Staples. "I enjoy visiting with Bob, now age 88, a great
deal. He is such a caring person, even though he has to contend with his
own health issues. He is a role model for others, always interested in
others."
Several times, Bob has
selected gifts to LSS that also benefit him. The charitable gift annuity
makes possible meaningful gifts to LSS, but also provides for Bob's own
future financial well-being. As a result of Bob's charitable gift annuity,
he receives fixed payments every year for the rest of his life. There are
multiple benefits to Bob. He receives a charitable deduction in the year
of the gift, is given annuity payments each year for the remainder of his
life, and, for a number of years after the gift is made, needs
to report only a portion of the annuity income as taxable. (The length of
time that annuity payments are partially tax-free depends on the age of
the giver when the gift annuity is created.)
"So each time that Bob gives a
charitable gift annuity to help Lutheran Social Service, he also helps
himself! What a great way to give," said Mary Ella Pratte.
After Bob retired from a
50-year career as a pharmacist in Detroit Lakes, Brainerd and Staples, he
began volunteering as a driver in the Meals-on-Wheels program. He is a
longtime member and leader of Faith Lutheran Church in Staples.
"I have no immediate family,
so I think it's important to help others out when there is real need," Bob
said.
