Lori Evers: A Legacy of Time and Treasure

"My minister always says, 'You can tell someone's priorities by looking at their calendar and their checkbook. It's where you spend your time and where you give your treasure,'" says Lori Evers. If you were to take a peek at Lori's calendar and checkbook, you'd learn she has put both her time and her treasure toward Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

As an inaugural member of the Legacy Advisors Leadership Council, Lori helped to conceptualize and develop the group of some 150 members of attorneys, financial advisors, wealth managers, insurance professionals and others who assist clients wishing to leave a portion or all of their estates to philanthropic causes.

Lori, a CPA by trade, spent three of the last four years away from work to be a full-time foster parent to a young boy. During one of those years, while he was reunited with his birth family, Lori had some extra time available on her calendar. So she decided to become a volunteer at Scottish Rite hospital.

She appointed herself the Director of Fun and spent time caring for patients, but also their families. "What amazed me in volunteering was the geographic diversity of the patients that Children’s serves. There were people from all over the state driving hours and hours to come here. And I got to see one of the things I love so much about the Children’s mission firsthand. Children’s takes care of the whole family. I was able to guide parents to the showers and sleep rooms. I spent a lot of time entertaining siblings, taking them to the gaming room and playing with them."

Her volunteer experience is one of the reasons she feels that giving tours to potential Legacy Advisors is so important. They quickly realize just how special a place Children’s is, as well as the amount of money and time that goes into making it so exceptional.

Lori's role on the Legacy Advisors Leadership Council is a way to marry her priorities in terms of time and money. In addition to volunteering, she is making Children’s a 25% beneficiary of her donor advised fund with a gift designated to our greatest need.

"By showing advisors what Children’s does and why it's so important, you get people to know your personal Children’s story. Then you have all these people out preaching our story, and hopefully telling it to their friends. It's getting them engaged and then getting their family engaged, their coworkers engaged and eventually getting their clients engaged. This group and what it does is something I hope is my legacy. My hope is that 20, 30 years from now this is still making a difference."

Like Lori, you can make a meaningful difference for the children we care for well into the future with a gift in your estate plan. To learn more about your options, contact Ward Sullivan at 404-785-9809 or ward.sullivan@choa.org.