As summer slips away and the leaves put on a show, I’m reminded that it is time to think about year-end giving. If you’re 70½ or older, you’re eligible to make what’s called a Qualified Charitable Distribution, a direct transfer from your IRA to a qualified nonprofit like ShareCare. And if you’re 73 or older, the IRS requires you to withdraw a minimum amount from your IRA every year or face a penalty; a Qualified Charitable Distribution can count toward that requirement. Instead of taking that money as taxable income, you can donate it to a nonprofit. Done correctly, you can support a worthy cause and reduce your taxable income for the year. A genuine win-win. (Check the specifics with your financial advisor or tax preparer.)
This year, more than ever, the charitable distribution option is needed. Nonprofits across the country are reporting funding concerns, and ShareCare is not immune. Federal and state funding has grown less predictable, and the cost of delivering the same level of service keeps climbing. ShareCare has been part of this county for over 30 years, and we’d like to keep going for 30 more! We are, for so many, the difference between aging at home and having to move from the area.
Our volunteers drive your 82-year-old neighbor to her cardiology appointment in Traverse City. She tried Lyft and Uber, but there are driver shortages, long wait times, and unpredictability with returning home. Public transportation will pick her up at home and deliver her to the appointment, but there are often other stops along the way. She has concerns about traveling long distances on a bus, so this option might not work. There are taxi services, but they can get expensive quickly with the distance from Northport, Empire, or Glen Lake to Traverse City and back. Did I mention her family lives in another state? Without ShareCare’s volunteer driver, that appointment doesn’t happen. Neither does the follow-up, or the grocery and prescription pickup, or the friendly phone call.
