Jim and Jo Carol Porter Create Bequest to Preserve the Values Embodied at Mount Vernon

From a visit during their honeymoon until today, Jim and Jo Carol Porter have made Mount Vernon part of their lives. Now, through a bequest they are ensuring that the values Mount Vernon embodies will remain strong far into the future.

“Mount Vernon is an organization that represents the seminal figure in colonial America and a person who exudes the character, courage, and honor that we think is important in leadership positions,” Jo Carol says. “We want that to continue.”

Their gift establishes Mount Vernon as a beneficiary of their IRA and as recipient of a percentage of another part of their estate. It is unrestricted, meaning it will be up to Mount Vernon to determine how it is used. As Jim explains, that shows their trust in the organization’s leadership to address whatever issues they are facing many years from now.

“You can’t see into the future,” Jim says. “You must trust the people you are leaving your money to. We’ve been watching Mount Vernon since 1999” and they have always shown excellent stewardship of the Washington estate.

Jim and Jo Carol urge others to join them by establishing a planned gift for Mount Vernon.

“We’re going to be gone, but we won’t be forgotten because Mount Vernon will carry on the values that we aspire to and look forward to it continuing for many generations,” Jim says. “It’s very simple: do you want to be gone and forgotten, or do you want to be gone and not forgotten?”