This article originally appeared in the Palm Beach Daily News on May 26, 2024
Leaving a legacy is so much more than just money and volunteering. It’s making sure your good deeds will be perpetuated forever by influencing others by example to help those less fortunate. Being involved philanthropically in this community for decades, I believe that the best way to ensure that my legacy of giving continues is through both my son and the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties.
Much of my life, from early childhood, has been shaped by the Hebrew phrase “tikkun olam,” which means “repairing the world.” Although it is a Jewish concept, it applies to the entire world and embraces the welfare of all people. Like many others, my sister and I learned how to be “good and giving” people from our parents’ example. They were not wealthy people but expected us to mirror their actions to volunteer our time, share our allowance, and help needy people in our neighborhood.
Naturally when I became a mother of my dear son Devin, 39 years ago, I wanted to imbue in him the values my parents taught me. At an early age, Devin demonstrated “tikkun olam” in social action activities, participating alongside me in fundraising runs for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, Days of Service at the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County, serving meals at holidays, and at the young age of 13 for his bar mitzvah project, becoming the first young man to deliver Meals on Wheels from MorseLife to seniors in West Palm Beach.
Devin and I together have been involved for decades in both Jewish and secular communities and causes. We have always made time to volunteer countless hours, donate lots of sweat equity, and contribute financial resources to worthy charities.
As I approached retirement from a wonderful career in finance during the summer of 2023, my son and I decided we wanted to expand our giving to the community at large in a more strategic and significant manner. I knew many people who were deeply involved in the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties – all of whom I greatly respected and admired. I had also attended many functions at the Community Foundation during my career and believed the organization truly represented the needs of the entire community.
Devin and I saw the Community Foundation as a beacon of philanthropic giving and decided that it would be our go-to organization to achieve our expanded interests. We opened and funded the Eileen Berman and Devin Krauss Family Foundation Fund through a donor-advised fund, or DAF, in addition to committing a substantial legacy gift. A DAF is a fund that is maintained and operated by a 501(c)(3) organization – or in our case the Community Foundation.
The process was not difficult, despite it being a challenge for us to narrow down which of the vast needs in our community to support. Personally, I was overwhelmed learning how much need there is and not being able to select just one cause. So Devin made the decision that we should direct our initial focus on food insecurity. His rationale was that when you are hungry, mental health, learning in school, and social skills all suffer.
We reviewed a wide list of organizations that deal with the crisis of food insecurity – all of which were noted by the Community Foundation for being well-run and in good standing. Devin and I took a tour of the Feed the Hungry Pantry in West Palm Beach, an organization created by Dan and Jacquie Shorter. We quickly decided to make our first distribution to Feed the Hungry Pantry. And Devin also became a regular weekend volunteer assisting with carrying and delivering heavy boxes of food.
Through the Community Foundation, Devin and I brought “tikkun olam” to our neighbors who most need our help. I trust that our good deeds will continue after I am gone, through my son. And while, yes this is a big responsibility, I’m confident Devin has been well-trained and is definitely up to the task. To us, legacy is “our responsibility to leave the world a better place than when we arrived!”
Eileen Berman is a resident of Palm Beach.
