Proud Alma Grads Give Back
Laurie (Eccles) DeYoung ’04 and Mitch DeYoung ’04 are proud to be plaid—they met at Alma College as students and have stayed close with the college as proud alumni, volunteers, employees and donors.
We spoke with Laurie and Mitch about their generous and heartfelt decision to include Alma in their estate plan.
How did you decide to include Alma in your estate plan?
We have been giving to Alma since graduating in 2004 because we are immensely grateful for the education and experiences we received. Once we started having children, we decided to tackle estate planning with attorney Sarah (Radke) Ostahowski ’04, an Alma classmate with practices in Shepherd and Alma. When Sarah asked us if we wanted to include any charitable causes in our plan, we immediately decided to support Alma College at a new level.
From the legal standpoint, Sarah made the process of documenting our gift simple and easy to understand. And Bob Murray, senior director of planned giving for Alma College, guided us through the process at the college level. Our decision was met with heartfelt appreciation by the college.
Why do you feel it’s important to give back to Alma College?
We’re just paying it forward, really. Alma’s faculty, staff and leadership work exceptionally hard to fulfill the college’s mission, and they do a great job. But they need resources so they can continue changing students’ lives. I love knowing that our gifts over the years, no matter how large or small, make a positive impact.
If you’d like more information on how you can give back to Alma in your estate plan, please contact Sherie L. Veramay at 989-463-7316 or veramaysl@alma.edu.