Spike Abernethy

As a retired Financial Advisor, Spike Abernethy knows a good opportunity when he sees one. As a life-long South Bender, he knows that the mission of the Community Foundation is one worth supporting.

For Spike, establishing a Charitable Gift Annuity through the Community Foundation made too much sense to pass up, especially with the news that Lilly Endowment Inc. would be matching unrestricted gifts 2-for-1.

“I love the mission of the Community Foundation,” he says. “A lot more than I love paying taxes.”

Faced with an approaching deadline for his IRA’s Required Minimum Distribution, and recognizing that he was blessed enough to not need those funds immediately, Spike approached the Foundation about opening a CGA.

The gift will pay Spike an annual income over the course of his lifetime and will pay dividends for his hometown during the years and decades to come.

“I’ve tried to teach my kids that we need to give back the things we’ve been blessed with,” he says. “If it’s important enough to support while we’re living, why not keep supporting it after we’re gone?”