During her 30 years teaching in urban schools, Gretchen Harrell, '60, encountered too many students who had the intellectual ability to go on to college but lacked the family support, study skills or financial resources. Harrell never gave up on these students, but when her three godchildren seemed to stall on the same path to unfulfilled potential, this veteran educator's heart threatened to break.
Then she heard about a successful program equipping and supporting students from inner-city Tacoma to attend Whitworth, her alma mater. The more Harrell learned about the Act Six Leadership and Scholarship Initiative, the more excited and hopeful she became.
"Based on all of my experience, I knew Act Six would work," she says. "The training and preparation the students get before enrolling, and the support they get from peers and staff after they get to campus, really increase their chances to succeed."
Harrell recently backed up her enthusiasm with an $800,000 planned gift. She used the proceeds from the sale of a vacation home to create a charitable trust that will provide her an income for life and will eventually create an endowment to help fund Act Six scholarships. Whitworth commits more than $500,000 a year to scholarships for Act Six students.
"Act Six is a big investment, but it delivers big rewards; so we're very grateful for Gretchen's generous gift to help sustain this worthy program," says Whitworth President Bill Robinson. "It's great when a donor's vision and passion line up so well with an opportunity to support an initiative vital to Whitworth's mission."
Harrell never expected to be able to make such a large gift, but she believes many people with modest incomes and appreciated real estate may find themselves in her position. Holly Norton and Joe Dinnison, '79, of The Whitworth Foundation, advised her on the financial and tax benefits available with different planned-giving vehicles.
"I didn't need the money in a lump sum; I will get along fine with Social Security and my retirement, along with the yearly income from the trust," Harrell says. "I always thought people like Bill Gates and [Chairman of the Whitworth Board of Trustees] Chuck Boppell were the only ones who could make this kind of gift, so it never occurred to me that I would be able to do something that would have such a lasting impact."
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