Haliburton Highlands Health Services Foundation

Special Gift Program

 What Should I Do Next?

For more information, contact us at

(705) 457-1580 or (705) 286-1580

Fax: (705) 457-2398

Email: foundation@hhhs.on.ca

 

What is the Special Gift Program? A program which allows you to make an immediate gift to the Foundation rather than a gift of cash. How can I participate in the Special Gift Program? You can do it by: Bequests Life Insurance Policies Gifts of Real Estate Securities, Bond, GIC's Publicly Traded Shares Residual Interest Gifts Charitable Remainder Trusts Gift Annuities Gifts of Interests in Private Companies & Other Business Interests Charitable donations to the foundation can be designed to realize your objectives and maximize tax benefits for you. Professionals in estate planning can provide advice and should be involved in deciding what is the best way for you to make a special gift to the Foundation Donating to the Foundation is a positive experience - it can give a sense of contributing to your community and providing for the health care of your family, friends, and neighbours.   Benefits of a Special Gift For You Significant tax benefits which will vary depending on the type of gift you chose The ability to make a gift to the Foundation that otherwise would not be possible The creation of a permanent memorial to  a friend or family member through the Foundation's Donor Recognition Program The satisfaction of contributing to the health of future generations Well-equipped health care facilities in our communities Benefits of a Special Gift For the Foundation Long-term stability and planning for the Foundation to carry out our mission of providing funds for capitol construction and renovations, medical equipment or special education programs now and in the future. The ability to recognize the generosity of our donors through our Donor Recognition Program.

The Haliburton Highlands Health Services Foundation has been fortunate to receive donations from the following estates:

Estate of A. A. Haywood

Estate of Annie Graham

Estate of Arthur Reginald (Reg) Argyle

Estate of Beatrice Taylor

Estate of Betty Sawyer

Estate of Brenda Chambers

Estate of Ed & Rhoda McKelvey

Estate of Edwin K. Scott

Estate of Elizabeth Ackerblade

Estate of F. B. McLellan

Estate of Herbert Hoffman

Estate of Gladys Louise Watson

Estate of Gladys Winnifred Tanguay

Estate of John Gunning

Estate of John Hardcastle

Estate of Joseph Ronald Buxton

Estate of Lee Edward Joseph Oster

Estate of Margaret Schrader

Estate of Mathias Dougherty

Estate of Maxine (Lyons) Curry

Estate of Patrick Brennan

Estate of Roy Arnold Nicholls

Estate of Ruth Muriel Ward

Estate of Sephrona L. Sisson

Estate of Tom Cox

Estate of W. R. Curry

Estate of W.O. Bailey

QUIET MAN, BIG LEGACY

Hospitals Receive $220,000 From Man

Who Shopped at 4Cs

This is Herb Hoffman with his dog in 1987.

By Greg Hoekstra, Staff Reporter, Haliburton County Echo

At face value, Herbie Hoffman lived a rather unassuming life.  To the residents of Haliburton, he is remembered only as a man who rode his bicycle through the village daily, making intermittent stops at the shops and restaurants along his path.

Dressed in modest, well-worn clothing (most of which he purchased at the 4Cs thrift shop), Hoffman was far from a luminary figure in the Highlands.  In fact, to look at him, one would have assumed he had nary a dime to his name, and he seemed happy that way. 

But nearly 11 months after his passing, a different side of Hoffman has recently come to light, supporting the aphorism that, in life, many things are not always as they seem.

Last week, officials and board members were overjoyed to formally announce that the late Herbert Hoffman bequeathed his entire estate – with the approximate value of $220,000 – to the Haliburton Highlands Health Services Foundation as part of the organization’s special gift program.

Since 1999, the HHHSF has received more than $400,000 in estates, but standing at more than half that total figure, Hoffman’s gift is the single largest of its kind.  His lawyer, Raymond Selbie, was chosen to be one of the executors of the estate.  He says that Hoffman had always intended on making a lofty donation, but notes that he was not the type to make those desires known to the public.

“Because he was a fellow who was fairly up on current events, he was intent on doing something for the community, but in an unassuming way,” says Selbie.  “He really didn’t have any brass bands about him, and he didn’t really want anyone to know what he was doing until it was all said and done.”

Hoffman originally requested that his physician, Dr. Norm Bottum, be a beneficiary of the estate, but it was later decided that Bottum would instead act as an executor alongside Selbie.  Bottum says that from a medical standpoint Hoffman wasn’t really indebted to the local health care facilities, which makes this donation all the more altruistic.  

“I don’t think he actually spent a day in this hospital… at least, I don’t think he was ever admitted” says Bottum.  “I think he just felt it was the right thing to do.  There was no bravado or anything, he just thought, ‘This is something practical that I can do.’”

Although it’s hard to say exactly when Hoffman came to the Highlands, most people can agree that he was around for “as long as I can remember.”  At the very least, Hoffman lived in Haliburton village for two decades, residing with his mother and caring for her in her latter years. 

He was born in Pembroke, but moved to Haliburton from Toronto, where he made his living buying houses and renovating them. During World War II Hoffman served in the Canadian military but he was barred from going overseas due to his German heritage.  Instead, he worked at a POW camp on home soil.

Hoffman died suddenly of a stroke on October 21, 2005, only two weeks before he would have celebrated his 90th birthday.  In the final year of his life, Hoffman lived at Haliburton Extendicare because his eyesight had deteriorated to the point where he could no longer live on his own.

“He signed himself in to Extendicare,” says Selbie.  “He went in voluntarily and was happy to go, because he saw it as the next part of his life…the next level where he could be comfortable and happy.”

Hoffman is survived only by his sister, Adeline Crocker, who he would visit once a year in Toronto.  After his passing, Adeline was said to be mournful but was in no way surprised by his wishes to donate the entire estate.

“When I phoned her to let her know that Herb had passed away, almost the first words out of her mouth were ‘I know Herb left everything to the hospital,’” says Selbie.  “He had told her before, which I found kind of comforting as a lawyer.  He had expressed his wishes to family and they weren’t objecting to it.”

“All she wanted was a coin collection and a picture of him in uniform,” adds Bottum, who visited Adeline in her nursing home shortly after Herb died.

With the infusion of Hoffman’s estate into the HHHSF purse, board members are excited to announce that the foundation should be able to meet its fundraising goal by March 2007, the end of their fiscal year.

“This is the single largest estate ever donated and it has brought us to within $200,000 of achieving out campaign goal of $6.4 million,” says Peter Oyler, chair of the HHHSF.  “To come this close to the end of our capital campaign, it’s just an unbelievable boost.”

Oyler says that as stirrings of the Hoffman donation leaked out to members of the community over the past months, some people have been inspired by the generosity of a man who seemed to have so little.

“People have been astonished at the gift, for one, and also at how close we are to the end of our campaign.  A couple of associations have even bumped up their giving as a result of this,” he says.

 Dale Walker, HHHSF executive director, says that in honour of Hoffman’s generous contribution a new “Investor” category will be added to the “Donors of Distinction” walls in health care facilities later this week.  The title of investor will be reserved for donations exceeding $200,000.

“Because of this being the largest gift we felt that we should do something,” says Walker.  “Ray kind of suggested that Herb wouldn’t have wanted a lot of fanfare or something named after him, so we decided to go with a new donor wall category and honour it that way.”

With the end in sight for the HHHSF’s first fundraising campaign, officials are now looking forward to their next campaign, which will help to pay for new equipment, such as digital imaging technology, to improve health care and health services across the county.

“One of my favourite sayings is that we’re no longer going to work for toilet seats and window covers, we’re now going to work for healthcare,” says Selbie, who is also sits as vice-chair with the HHHSF.  “And I’m glad we’re finally over that stage.”

For more information on making a donation, or on the HHHSF Special Gift program, please contact the foundation office, located at the Haliburton Hospital, at (705) 457-1580.  Any contribution, be it large or small, is a greatly appreciated step towards improving health care in our community.

Ray Selbie, the executor of Herb Hoffman's estate and Vice-Chair of the HHHS Foundation, Dr. Norm Bottum, Foundation Executive Director Dale Walker and Foundation Chair Peter Oyler have decided to add a new category to the Donors of Distinction wall to accommodate Herb Hoffman's bequest.

We sincerely appreciate the thoughtfulness

of these individuals.