I Joined Mote, Left Mote, Then Returned Bearing a Gift
by Mote volunteer Lee Bauman
There are many places to give one's time and energy to help people. After retirement, my husband Ed and I moved from Pittsburgh to Sarasota and discovered an outstanding one — Mote Marine Laboratory.
We became volunteers at Mote where my background in education found a perfect fit, interaction with diverse age groups and the opportunity to both teach and learn. The longer I worked at Mote the more I realized the great contribution the Lab was making to marine science and the conservation of our natural resources. So when my dad, Alan Randall, set up a Charitable Remainder Unitrust with me as lifetime beneficiary and trustee, it was natural that I recommend Mote as the ultimate beneficiary. He was delighted.
However, after a few years, my father passed away, we moved, and our Mote connection was broken. Now we are back in Sarasota and I am once again an eager Mote volunteer. I feel I have "come home." I am meeting old acquaintances, back to teaching others about the sea, and more than pleased to honor my father's wish to be a Mote donor. He would be glad that his final gift will go to Mote's ever expanding research — including advances in bay water monitoring by the Center for Coastal Ecology, new non-polluting technologies at the Center for Aquaculture, advances in veterinary medicine at the Marine Mammal Center, anti-cancer studies at the Center for Shark Research, and dear-to-my-heart the growth of Mote's Education Division.
The future of Mote Marine Laboratory can be made more secure by planned giving which can take one of many forms to suit a donor's wishes. Perhaps you, as my father did, can make a difference by including Mote in your estate plans. Talk to a lawyer who knows estate planning. You will find you can better provide for your family and also help Mote Marine Laboratory.