The Foundation's Mission: To Grow As Well As To Give
The St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Foundation is not a static entity, but a living, vibrant agency that seeks special gifts so its three funds can continue the good works they have been created to do.

An Introduction
The St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Foundation is a tax-exempt corporation formed in 1973 by the Vestry of St. Luke’s to help perpetuate the physical properties of the parish and to support foreign missions.

In 1992, the activity of the Foundation was expanded to include outreach activities for programs and projects in the local area and North Carolina.

Today the Foundation has three separate endowment funds:

Fund A
Proceeds from this fund are used for periodic major maintenance, repair, capital improvements, and for preservation and restoration of St. Luke’s Church properties. The income from the fund cannot be used for routine parish maintenance.

Fund B
Proceeds from this fund are used for Christian evangelism through missionaries or missions, health service, and education by institutions sponsored or co-sponsored by, or operating in close association with, the Episcopal Church of the United States. This Fund was endowed with an estate gift from Dr. & Mrs. Frank B. Marsh.

Fund C
Proceeds from this fund are used to provide Christian outreach in North Carolina with emphasis given to programs in the Salisbury-Rowan community.

The endowment funds are invested in financial instruments and earnings are used to fund the foundation’s grants.

A seven-member board of trustees elected to five-year staggered terms administers the Foundation. During its over three decades of existence, the Foundation has supported a wide range of projects and programs throughout the world through Fund B. Nearly every continent has a mission or Christian outpost that has received financial help from St. Luke’s Foundation. Grants have been made in Russia, South Korea, Zimbabwe, Jamaica, Mexico, Costa Rica, Haiti, Honduras, South Africa, Nicaragua, Guatemala, etc.

Grants also have been made to international agencies, such as Foundation for International Professional Exchange, Heifer Project, Food for the Poor, Jesus Abbey in the Republic of Korea, Liberian Refugee Tutorial Program, Presiding Bishop’s Fund for World Relief, Russian Ministry Network, South American Missionary Society, Jericho Ministries, etc.

Grants from Fund C have supported Rowan Helping Ministries, Meals on Wheels of Rowan, and Young Life Salisbury, among other worthy charitable agencies. Individual grants have ranged in amounts from $1,000 to $32,000 making the outreach of the Foundation impressive.

Sources of Funding
Gifts to St. Luke’s Foundation can be made at any time by anyone to either of the three Funds or to all of them.

Fund B, by virtue of its gift from the estate of Dr. & Mrs. Frank B. Marsh, is the largest. Funds A and C are also important and have played significant roles in fulfilling their specific missions, but have smaller endowments.

North Carolina and Federal income and estate tax laws encourage charitable giving, such as to foundations like St. Luke’s. Gifts to the Foundation may be made in cash, stocks and bonds, real estate, life insurance bequests payable upon the death of the donor, or other income producing property. Bequests to St. Luke’s Foundation live for decades, for generations beyond the lifetime of the donor(s).

Today there is a wide array of charitable gift annuities and trust agreements available to suit most any donor’s wishes, designed to make a significant gift while protecting and preserving the interests of the donor and family.

Donors should remember that when securities and real estate are involved, the fair market value is used in calculating tax deductions. In planning contributions by will or through annuities and/or trust funds, working with a knowledgeable attorney and a certified public accountant is essential due to the many options available in charitable giving and estate planning.

The Gifts Are Meaningful
Over the years, letters of profound thanks have come back to St. Luke’s from the far corners of the earth, responding to the gifts from the Foundation. Following are some examples:

"Very respectfully I say to you, wishing you success in all your endeavors and at the same time wishing that God grant you many blessings today and always...Have confidence that the seed that you have planted in us has fallen on fertile ground and that it will bear fruit soon and that when we save a life or help someone it will be thanks to you...." -- comments from the leadership of a medical clinic in Honduras.

"We believe in love. We live in a rough world where people maltreat each other but where there is also great kindness, generosity, justice, and love. At a Christian school, these are more than characteristics, they are imperatives.... we know that the Holy Spirit is with us...(and) rejoice that this first visible sign of our chapel’s development is before us." -- from the director of St. Mark’s Chapel in South Africa.

"Let us express our most sincere gratitude for your generous help. People of our parish rejoice at seeing our beautiful cathedral now nearly fully restored. Without your help the process of restoration would be lasted for years and years. Our relationships show a marvelous example of Christian love." -- Father Gennady Zverev, St. Sophia’s, Pushkin, Russia.