Their Wills Make a Statement

When Trish saw Ted's picture in her high school yearbook, she told her friends that he was the boy for her. Ted must have agreed. A year later he proposed, and the couple has been married for over fifty years.

Soon after the wedding, Ted and Trish became missionaries, and their work took them all over the world. They helped develop written alphabets for people in remote villages in order to translate the Bible and raised three children along the way.

Their work as missionaries gave Trish and Ted first-hand knowledge of poverty and how much The Salvation Army's help means to those in need. When their children were young, Christmas presents were beyond the family's budget, but they did find gifts at The Salvation Army store.

This left a lasting impression: "If the Army hadn't been there, our kids wouldn't have had a Christmas."

When it was time to update their Wills, Trish and Ted thought about their blessings: an inheritance that let them live comfortably, children who were successfully established and needed no financial help, and a nicely furnished home.

"We wanted our Wills to make a statement and to find a way to have the house be useful."

And so, after consulting with the Army's planned giving representative and their legal adviser, they decided to leave their home and possessions to The Salvation Army.
The couple wanted to make sure that their bequest would go to help those who really need it. As a nurse practitioner, Trish takes a holistic approach to healing people, a philosophy much like The Salvation Army's. The Army strongly believes that its mission is not just to provide warmth, food, and shelter - short-term, immediate help - but to enable people to become self-sufficient.

"The Salvation Army is not just a charitable organization - they help people become better physically, emotionally, and spiritually."

Having seen The Salvation Army's work both in the United States and abroad - and benefitting from Army services when their own family was in need - Trish and Ted considered it a "no-brainer" to include The Salvation Army in their Wills.

"We can trust that the money the Army receives will be used for people who need it and used the way they need it.

"The Salvation Army is living out the gospel message."